Despite the fact that Mongolian Mining Corporation stock rose 10 percent last week, insiders who sold USD 791 thousand worth of stock in the previous 12 months are likely to be better off. Selling at an average price of USD 3.96, which is higher than the current price, may have been the best move for these insiders because their investment would have been worth less now than when they sold.

Insiders own 7.0 percent of Mongolian Mining shares, worth about HKD 151 million. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it’s enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

The President of Mongolia, U.Khurelsukh, worked at the factories in the food industry within the framework of the ‘Food Supply and Security’ national movement.

‘Tsaluut Impex’ LLC meat-processing factory can sort and process 1,250 head of livestock per day. It can deep-freeze 60 tons of meat daily and has a warehouse to store 500 tons. The products are sold in well-known chain stores and supplied to mining and other enterprises. The factory exports to Iran and Central Asian countries and is planning to export to China in the future.

Most of the meat on the market is hand-produced which lowers the hygiene and quality requirements. Therefore, the leaders of ‘Tsaluut Impex’ LLC consider supporting industrial preparation for the meat process. For example, they offered the option of supplying meat to government organizations, schools, and kindergartens from meat processing factories. They also stressed the need to provide financial support to the factories.

About 270 meat processing factories and workshops are registered nationwide.

3.4 percent of all meat prepared in 2021 was processed by domestic factories.

‘MCS Coca Cola’ LLC manufactures and markets 150 types of beverages, water, juice, and tea, of 21 brands and provides jobs for 950 people. Within the framework of the ‘Sugar Reduction Program’, the company has been working to reduce 1-2 types of flavors every year starting from 2018.

The company has put an industrial wastewater recycling facility and smokeless stoves that work by gas into operation in the past.

Executive director L.Myagmarjav introduced the company’s goal of recycling all plastic bottles of drinks sold by 2030 to realize the “World without Plastic Waste” program.

Due to transportation, border, and customs issues, difficulties arise in enforcing the clause of the Food Law, which states that “2/3 of the shelf life of imported food must be valid”. Therefore, it is necessary to consider amending this law to distinguish imported raw materials for food from finished products.

The President, U.Khurelsukh, said that he believes in national industries and wealth creators to significantly contribute to meeting domestic needs with 19 types of products in the next five years and then achieve the goal of becoming an exporting country. In this regard, he noted that the government is improving the legal environment, providing long-term, low-interest loans, and supporting them with tax policies

28 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Mongolia in a day.

24 of them were contacts in Ulaanbaatar, and 4 were registered in the regions. No imported cases were found.

The death toll from coronavirus remained 2,131.

TMK Energy (ASX:TMK) has today commenced drilling the third of four planned wells onsite its Mongolian acreage at the company’s flagship CSG project.

Earlier this month, the company reported a 91m thick coal body at Snow Leopard-2. Initial test results indicate high methane contents (the key constituent of natural gas) and the easy flow of gas through rock.

Snow-Leopard 3 is targeting the same coal bodies.

Management notes results from SL-3 upon completion will be compared with SL-1 and SL-2 to further delineate the resource and log the gas characteristics encountered at Gurvantes XXXV.

Millidarcy metre values for the coal bodies intersected in SL-2, a measure of how easily gas can flow through rock, reflected a desirable coal deposit allowing the free flow of gas molecules underground.

Those results suggest the stimulation and extraction of gas is likely to present a commercially feasible prospect for the company's CSG production.

Talon to earn 33% interest

Talon continues to earn a 33% working interest in the project and assisted in the provision of US$1.5m to execute the four well program.

The partnership intends to establish a pilot plant on-site at which time Talon Energy will assist in the provision of a further US$3.15m.

TMK is now fast tracking a pilot well proof of concept process with operations expected to commence later in 2022.

BY Jonathon Davidson

Finance Writer

Jonathon is a journalism graduate and avid market watcher with exposure to governance, NGO and mining environments. He was most recently hired as an oil and gas specialist for a trade publication. Email Jon at jon@marketindex.com.au.

On October 17, Chairman of the State Great Khural of Mongolia G.Zandanshatar paid a courtesy call on President of the Republic of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Chairman of the State Great Khural G.Zandanshatar expressed condolence to the President, the grieving families of the victims, and the people of Turkey over a coal mine blast in the northern province of the country that killed at least 41 people.

During the meeting, the sides mutually reaffirmed their commitments to advance bilateral relations to a new level and exchanged views on deepening cooperation in the spheres of trade, economy, defense, culture, tourism, and education.

While conveying the greetings of the President of Mongolia, the Chairman expressed his satisfaction with the intensification of high-level political dialogues.

Teams of the Philippines and Mongolia became the champions of the second Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners after winning the final of the biggest-ever chess event among correctional facilities. The tournament was organized by FIDE and the Cook County (Chicago, IL, USA) Sheriff's Office and coincided with the International Day of Education in Prison.

The men's section saw two matches: Colombia and the Philippines fought for gold, while El Salvador and India competed for the bronze medals. The Philippines won both their matches against Colombia (2.5-1.5 and 3-1) in the final and came out on top. The victory came as a result of the hard work of both players and prison officials. A year ago, the team finished 5th in the inaugural event. When preparing for the second championship, prisoners were trained by some Philippines' strong chess masters, including Winston Silva, Shrihaan Poddar and Jail officer 1 Cedrix B Cabangal. Players worked on chess every day, watching videos and chess tutorials and analyzing their games.

In the match for bronze, India prevailed over El Salvador.

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich attended the online closing ceremony of the 2nd Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners and congratulated the finalists:

"I would like to congratulate all participants, all teams, and everyone who was involved. I hope you enjoyed playing, representing your countries and, most importantly, that you improved your skills by learning and playing chess and communicating with other people. We all hope that at some moment of your life, you will be free to make your own choices, and chess will help you to make those choices rationally."

Final matches in men's and women's competitions ran concurrently. The Women's final between Mongolia and Serbia ended with a victory for Mongolian team; Serbia claimed silver medals. The women's match for third place between England and Trinidad and Tobago was not played due to technical reasons. Both teams shared third place.

It is the second gold medal of the Intercontinental Championship for Prisoners under team Mongolia's belt. A year ago, the country won gold in the open competition of the inaugural event. It was hardly a big surprise, as Mongolia has a long-standing tradition of teaching chess in prisons. Since 1956 chess tournaments have been organized in all correctional units of the country.

The winners were greeted by the Deputy Chair of the FIDE Management Board Dana Reizniece-Ozola: "I think that the fact that this is already the second year when we see the gold medals being awarded to Mongolian teams is proof of their dedication to Chess in Prisons programme that has been already running in Mongolia for decades. There's no easy way to success; you have to work a lot and invest a lot of time and resources. My congratulations also to the other teams that participated. My understanding is that even though there are only three medals in each competition, you're all the winners. You have increased your stress resistance and experience, strengthened your team spirit, and you have represented your country in this great event."

In the youth section, the winners were determined on Friday, October 14. Team Serbia lifted the trophy after defeating England in the final. The bronze medal went to team Ecuador.

The three-day tournament aimed to popularize chess as an efficient tool for reintegrating incarcerated people stretched over five days from October 13-17, 2022. The event attracted 85+ teams from 46 countries representing all continents, providing an opportunity for inmates to play with their peers across the globe.

President Xi Jinping has promised a slow and steady end to the growth of planet-warming emissions in China, with energy security taking top priority as the country contends with a flagging economy and tumult on global fuel markets.

In a two-hour speech to kick off the weeklong Communist Party Congress, Xi said that prudence would govern China’s efforts to peak and eventually zero-out carbon emissions. The cautious wording comes after a spate of high-profile power shortages in recent years, and as global energy costs have soared after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended trade flows.

The speech made China’s path to decarbonization clear: It won’t stop burning fossil fuels until it’s confident that clean energy can reliably replace them.

“We will work actively and prudently toward the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality,” Xi said in his address. “Based on China’s energy and resource endowments, we will advance initiatives to reach peak carbon emissions in a well-planned and phased way, in line with the principle of getting the new before discarding the old.”

China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, and Xi electrified climate activists two years ago when he vowed to reach carbon neutrality by 2060 after peaking emissions before 2030. The announcement sparked a massive surge in investment in clean energy by local governments and state-owned firms.

But last year, focus began to return to China’s mainstay fuel of coal after a shortage triggered widespread power curtailments to factories, slowing economic growth. The country vowed to increase mining capacity, and production has risen to record levels this year, keeping storage sites well stocked and reducing imports.

China will also expand exploration and development of oil and gas resources, and increase reserves and production as part of the measures to ensure energy security, according to a congress work report released after Xi’s speech.

China invests more than any other country in clean energy, and is on pace to shatter its record for new solar installations this year. But it hasn’t been able to outrun the growth in energy demand, forcing it to burn more coal and setting a record for consumption last year that is likely to be eclipsed in 2022.

Xi made clear that fossil fuels and renewables will have to work in tandem. “Coal will be used in a cleaner and more efficient way and we will speed up the planning and development of new energy systems,” he said.

He also vowed that China would be actively involved in the global response to climate change. His government was criticized after it broke off climate negotiations with the US in August after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to the contested island of Taiwan.

Barrick Gold (TSX: ABX)(NYSE: GOLD) said on Monday it had achieve a significant legal milestone to proceed with the development of the giant Reko Diq copper-gold deposit in Pakistan, close to the borders of Iran and Afghanistan.

During a four-day visit to the country, president and chief executive Mark Bristow held discussions with several stakeholders, which finished with all the documents needed to start building Reko Diq being approved by the country’s president Arif Alvi.

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Paperwork was filed on Saturday with the supreme court, Barrick said, adding that once that transaction is completed, the project will be owned 50% by Barrick, 25% by the province of Balochistan, where the asset is located, and 25% by major Pakistani state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

The Reko Diq project, which hosts one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits, has been on hold since 2011 due to a dispute over the legality of its licensing process.

Barrick solved the long-running dispute earlier this year, reaching a preliminary out-of-court deal that cleared the path for a final agreement on how to run the mine and profit-sharing arrangements.

The project is now seeking financing partners, with a target of 50% debt to total capitalization.

The company plans to deliver production as early as 2027-2028 from Phase 1 at a cost of around $4 billion, with Phase 2 to follow in five years and a cost of roughly $3 billion.

Two-phase development

The conceptual design calls for an open pit with a life of more than 40 years. It would be built in two phases, starting with a plant that will be able to process about 40 million tonnes of ore per annum, which could be doubled in five years.

The latest plan is double the annual throughput capacity and more than twice the investment estimated in an unpublished 2010 feasibility study.

During peak construction, the project is expected to employ 7,500 people and once in production it will create 4,000 long-term jobs during the expected 40-year life of the mine.

Some analysts believe that Pakistan’s lack of experience in mining and its political instability make this a risky deal.

Bristow, however, said in May that he had worked in challenging situations all his life and that he was “very comfortable” with the project. He added that this was the “perfect opportunity for the mining industry to demonstrate what it can bring to an economy” of a region that has been “neglected” and struggles to get access to potable water.

Barrick is setting up community development committees (CDCs) to identify priority projects and supervise their implementation.

“Our CDC model provides a transparent and accountable mechanism for tailoring development programmes to the needs of these communities with their full participation,” Bristow said on Monday.

Barrick also said it was donating an additional $150,000 to the Balochistan flood relief fund, bringing the its total contribution to $300,000.

21 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Mongolia in past 24 hours.

17 of them were contacts in Ulaanbaatar, and 4 were recorded in the regions. No imported cases were found.

The number of coronavirus related deaths is 2,131.