Mongolia plans 8GW increase in wind power capacity www.the-eic.com

Mongolia plans to add 8GW to its wind power capacity after the successful launch of a 50MW wind farm last week.

Investors smile as Elixir Petroleum soars 82 per cent on Mongolia deal www.stockhead.com.au

Investors have jumped on board Elixir Petroleum on news it will acquire Mongolian-focused coal bed methane company Golden Horde for around $3.6 million.

2016 Poverty Rate in Mongolia Estimated at 29.6 Percent www.worldbank.org

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, October 17, 2017 - The National Statistical Office (NSO) of Mongolia today presented the outcomes of the poverty estimation outcomes in a seminar entitled “Poverty Situation - 2016” organized jointly with the World Bank. The two institutions have been collaborating in developing methodology for estimating poverty rate through household income and expenditure surveys as well as living standard measurement survey since 2002. This time, the poverty rate has been jointly estimated based on the 2016 Household Socio-Economic Survey. 

This year poverty rate has been estimated at an aimag level for the first time in Mongolia, based on the 2016 Household Socio-Economic Survey. The poverty rate shows the changes in the living standards during the period of time and does not reflect the changes occurred since the beginning of 2017. 

During the 2014 launch of the poverty estimation outcomes, NSO mentioned that the consumption level of the people who got out of poverty was just above the national poverty line, making many people vulnerable to slipping back into poverty in case of negative effects from economic shocks. The outcome of the current survey shows that the people who were above the poverty line in 2014 have slipped back into poverty due to negative consequences of the socio economic shocks in 2015-2016.

The economic growth has been slowing down since 2012, lowering to 11.6 percent in 2013, 7.9 percent in 2014, 2.4 percent in 2015, and 1.2 percent in 2016. Thus, the economy grew by only 3.6 percent in total between 2015 and 2016, while in 2012-2014 the growth was 20 percent.

Factors behind worsening livelihoods in 2015-2016 included decline in the construction, professional, science and technology sector outputs by 6.3-7.4 percent in 2016, drop in the number of employees in the construction sector by 16,700 people, and zero increase in salary and pension in 2015 and 2016. 

According to the estimation, concluded jointly by NSO and the World Bank, the poverty rate in Mongolia reached 29.6 percent in 2016 – an increase by 8.0 percentage points from the poverty rate of 21.6 percent in 2014. This shows that 907.5 thousand people out of the total 3.0 million people in Mongolia were living in the poverty. In 2016, the poverty depth amounted to 7.7 percent representing a growth of 2.5 percentage points from 2014 level, and poverty severity amounted to 2.9 percent, an increase by 1.0 percentage point from 2014 level. 

Comparison of the livelihood standards in urban and rural areas showed that the poverty has increased more in rural areas then in urban areas. Although the overall number of people living in rural areas is less than the number of urban residents, the poverty rate in rural areas has increased by 10.1 percentage points. The poverty rate in rural areas declined by 11.7 percentage points in 2014 from the 2012 levels, but resumed back by 10.1 percentage points in 2016, reflecting how the households with consumption level just above the national poverty line, affected by minor socio-economic difficulties and weather conditions, shifted below the poverty line. 

Regional poverty rate estimations show the poverty rate increase of 12.5 percentage points in Eastern region, 10.1 percentage points in Western region, 8.4 percentage points in Ulaanbaatar city, 8.3 percentage points in Khangai region, and 4.6 percentage points in Central region - the lesser increase compared to other regions.

Poverty outlook by regions shows the lowest poverty in Uvs aimag among other four Western aimags with the poverty scope of 24.2 percent. Poverty level in Zavkhan is highest with the poverty scope of 47.5 percent. In Khangai region, the poverty scope in Orkhon aimag is 23.5 percent – the lowest compared to five regional aimags, while poverty scope in Uvurkhangai aimag has the highest in the region at 41.5 percent. In the Central region, Umnugovi had less poverty than the other six aimags with the aimag poverty scope at 15.4 percent, while Govisumber aimag had more poverty with the scope of 52.4 percent. In the Eastern region, all three aimags have similar levels of poverty with poverty scope of approximately 41.5-47.0 percent.

Poverty scope was higher than the national average in all aimags except Uvs, Orkhon, Khuvsgul, Dornogobi, Dundgobi, Umnugovi, and Tuv.

Khan bank and Golomt bank selected as dealers of Interbank FX platform www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The Bank of Mongolia (BoM) has selected the Khan Bank and the Golomt Bank again as basic dealers of the Interbank Currency Exchange Platform for the fourth quarter of this year.

SEC charges Rio Tinto, former top executives with fraud www.mining.com

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday charged mining company Rio Tinto Plc (RIO.AX) and two of its former top executives with fraud, saying they inflated the value of coal assets in Mozambique acquired for $3.7 billion and sold a few years later for $50 million.

Putin green lights launch of the CryptoRuble www.rt.com

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the issue of a national cryptocurrency, according to Communications Minister Nikolay Nikiforov, after a closed-door meeting.

Housing price index declines www.mongolia.gogo.mn

ULAANBAATAR (GoGo Mongolia) - The housing price index of 6 central districts of Ulaanbaatar observed a decline by 1.2% if compared to third quarter of 2016 and by 0.3% from the preceding quarter of 2017, respectively. 

Most depreciation is recorded in Bayangol and Songinokhairkhan districts at 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively from a year ago. Subsequent decline goes to Khan-Uul Chingeltei and Bayangol districts at 0.3%, Bayangol and Sukhbaatar districts at 0.2%.
The lowest drop is observed in Songinokhairkhan district at 0.5%. 
Below figure shows the housing price index, by percent, in the third quarter of 2017, by central 6 districts of Ulaanbaatar, compared with the same period of previous year. 
In reference period, housing price index for apartments built before 1970's dropped in all 6 central districts from 0.4% to 2.2%.
For apartments built during 1970's to 2001 this figure is by 0.6%-1.8% and for apartments built after 2001 by 0.4%-1.0% compared with same period of 2016, respectively.
If compared to preceding quarter, housing price index for apartments built before 1970's stays without a change in Sukhbaatar district, however decreasing in remaining districts from 0.3% to 0.6%.
Housing price index for apartments built 1970's-2001 unchanged in Bayanzurkh district, however, decreased in other 5 districts from 0.1% to 0.5% and for apartments built after 2001 decreased in central 6 districts by 0.1%-0.3% compared with previous quarter.

Discussing future of robotics www3.nhk.or.jp

Technology specialists from Japan and the US have gathered in Silicon Valley to discuss the future of robotics.

IMF team to arrive in Mongolia later this month www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ A team of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will be arriving in Mongolia later this month for a Second Review of the Extended Fund Facility program.

Kincora advances Red Well prospect, adjacent to Rio Tinto drilling www.kincoracopper.com

Vancouver, BC— October 17th, 2017. Kincora Copper Ltd. (the “Company”, “Kincora”) (TSXV:KCC) is pleased to announced that ground magnetic and gravity surveys have commenced at the wholly owned Red Well license. The Red Well license is located approximately 40km north of the Oyu Tolgoi concentrate plant and immediately to the north of Rio Tinto drilling activities on a Turquoise Hill Resources license (XV- 19315), the latter being the first regional drilling by any major group since 2012.

Limited previous exploration across the immediate Red Well region has identified outcropping volcanic rocks with localized malachite staining. The volcanics continue into both the eastern and western sections of the license. At the eastern margin of the license a historic rock chip sample returned 2% copper, 0.25g/t gold, 1.5g/t silver, 0.25% arsenic and zinc, 0.08% lead, 0.002% molybdenum and bismuth, with further copper and other anomalies identified to the immediate west. Historic airborne magnetic data suggests that the cover sequence to the north of the outcrop in the central third of the license is shallow, with a historic regional Induced Polarization (“IP”) target across the central portion of the license.
Sam Spring, President & CEO, commented: “The immediate and general regional setting of Red Well is considered to be highly prospective. Capital constrained field activities since securing the license last year have provided encouraging geological indications with positive fertility results, sodic-calcic alteration, with smears of malachite within volcanics located in the central portion of the license. Recent drilling activities by Rio Tinto based on geophysical targets on the license immediately adjacent to the south along the general NNE arc transverse trend from Oyu Tolgoi also provides encouragement.
Ongoing ground magnetic and gravity surveys are expected to advance our interpretation of Red Well and refine target generation for follow up exploration.
The recent direct private placement with EBRD has further strengthened our balance sheet supporting an acceleration of exploration activities. First phase drilling and initial follow up geophysics has already be completed at Devonian target #1, East Tsagaan Suvarga, and drilling is ongoing at our second target, Bayan Tal.
These activities support the first modern systematic Tier 1 copper porphyry drill testing and district scale reconnaissance exploration program in the Devonian copper belt with current geophysics are advancing Red Well as target 3, with plans currently refining targets 4 and 5 within the dominant ground position we hold across the Oyu Tolgoi-Tsagaan Suvarga Devonian belt.”