Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi Copper and Gold Project: A Look Without the Rose-Coloured Glasses

PERTH, AUSTRALIA--November 6, 2009--Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--At last it looks like the Mongolian government will finally approve the plans of Ivanhoe Mines Limited (NYSE:IVN) (Vancouver, British Columbia) and Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RTP) (London, England) to develop the huge Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold project. Or perhaps more correctly, Ivanhoe and Rio Tinto have finally been able to negotiate conditions under which they are prepared to commit the estimated US$1.15 billion required. However, is all as it seems? Commentators familiar with the complicated politics of this region are not so sure. Some believe, and probably for good reason, that both Moscow and Beijing, Mongolia's immediate neighbours that account for 60% of Mongolia's export revenue, are very interested in evicting Western interests from Mongolia--or at least freezing them so that if they don't benefit, nobody benefits. Other questions have been raised about the ability of Mongolia to invest in infrastructure and the country's previous treatment of foreign investors.