On October 12, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene held a virtual meeting with Premier of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China Li Keqiang.

During the meeting, the two countries’ Prime Ministers exchanged views on a wide range of matters such as politics, trade, economy, and cooperation during the pandemic, and affirmed willingness to further develop the Mongolia-China comprehensive strategic partnership relations.

Highlighting that the two countries have mutually supported one another, and have had a model way of cooperation so far during the difficult times of the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene expressed gratitude to the Government of China for providing support in Mongolia’s fight against the pandemic.

They then underlined the possibility of further expanding bilateral trade and economic cooperation and bringing it to a new level, and exchanged views on opportunities for some large-scale projects. In order to reach bilateral trade turnover to USD 10 billion, the two sides also agreed to have active cooperation between the corresponding organizations. In its framework, the sides pledged to give support for increasing coal export from Mongolia, and establishing long-term commercial agreements between entities on the basis that measures are improved for controlling the COVID-19 infection.

Furthermore, the two Prime Ministers reached an agreement on urgently transporting the coal accumulated at Gashuunsukhait border checkpoint as well as having the issue regarding the 4,575 containers to be delivered to Mongolia that is currently at the Tianjin Port of China, resolved before winter.

Prime Minister L.Oyun-Erdene noted the significance of autoroads and railroads in bilateral trade turnover and having active economic cooperation, and put forth a suggestion to cooperate in accelerating the construction of railroads at Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod, Bichigt-Zuunkhatavch, Khangi-Mandal, and Shiveekhuren-Sekhee border checkpoints. The sides finalized the border point for the railroad at Gashuunsukhait-Gantsmod checkpoint, and agreed to actively carry out works to establish green gateways at corresponding border checkpoints.

During the meeting, the two Prime Ministers highlighted the importance of expanding cooperation in the environmental sector in order to fight against climate change, and expressed that the two Governments will actively cooperate in the framework of jointly implementing a large-scale project on desertification and dust storms per the agreement reached between the two countries’ Heads of State.

As neighboring countries, views were also exchanged on cooperating in production and export of renewable energy in the southern region of Mongolia.

The sides expressed support for cooperation in involving private entities of China in projects aimed at developing Ulaanbaatar into a “smart” city, and reducing traffic congestion.

The two Prime Ministers affirmed their commitment to advance the implementation of the Mongolia-Russia-China Economic Corridor Program.

Expressing their willingness to continue to have close cooperation within the framework of regional and multilateral cooperation mechanisms, the Mongolian and Chinese Prime Ministers agreed to maintain close working cooperation and meet in person when circumstances allow.

Mongolia, known worldwide for its finest cashmere and unique nomadic culture, has approved the National MNS 6926:2021 - Standard for Sustainable Textile Production, in line with key government policies, including the country’s long-term development policy Vision 2050 and the 2030 Global Agenda for Sustainable Development. Furthermore, the National Standard indicators are in line with international standards, boosting the competitiveness of sustainably produced Mongolian genuine wool and cashmere products in foreign markets.

The National Standard was officially approved by the Textile Technical Committee of the Mongolian Agency for Standardization and Metrology, with the main objective to make the textile sector environmentally friendly, socially responsible and ethical. It covers a wide range of issues such as the rational use of natural resources, energy consumption, the use of chemicals, industrial waste, social responsibility, labor protection, and animal rights.

The criteria and key outcomes of the Standard are based on the Voluntary Code of Practice for Sustainable Production (VCP), initiated and elaborated within the EU funded SWITCH-Asia Sustainable Textile Production and Eco Labeling (STeP EcoLab) project implemented by AVSF Mongolia and its partners. The Mongolian Wool and Cashmere Association and the German Center for Sustainable Consumption and Development, played a key role in formulating the sustainability criteria of the VCP to meet the requirements of international certification schemas.

Dr. U. Sarangoo, Manager of the STeP EcoLab project explained: “It wasn’t an easy process. Initially, the concept of sustainability wasn’t clearly understood, especially among SMEs. Jointly with our partners, we had numerous meetings and consultations with key government institutions, as well as with processors. We explained the necessity for sustainable production and justified our interventions and had to be constant and systematic in our approach. Mongolia is a developing country and is very committed to promoting sustainable development in all sectors and boosting economic growth. Therefore, the approval of the National Standard in the wool and cashmere sector is crucial for the country’s development and its global recognition. But this is just an initial step, much more should be planned ahead.”

Guillaume Touati, AVSF Mongolia Country Representative: “AVSF Mongolia has been an active player in developing sustainable cashmere value chain in Mongolia by working with herder cooperatives to practice sustainable sourcing and, therefore, is happy to have this important outcome achieved at the processing level. This result will be imperative as it will contribute to developing a solid and trustable cashmere value chain and will definitely raise the country’s competitiveness on wool and cashmere markets worldwide.”

To ensure the preparedness of the committed SMEs to “go sustainable”, STeP EcoLab jointly with the team of experts is currently in the process of providing practical advises on the basics of different sustainability criteria such as energy saving, water efficiency, waste management, chemicals use and social safeguarding. The approval of the Standard for Sustainable Textile Production is an important step towards compliance of international standards needed in promoting sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in the textile sector in Mongolia.

““I hope the National Sustainable Textile Production Standard will help the industries to increase and boost their reputation not only nationally but also at international level, as the successful implementation of this standard is a good prerequisite for the companies to gain international recognition and obtain globally recognized certifications”, said Pierre-Yves Lucas, European Delegation to Mongolia Cooperation Team Leader.

On October 12, Deputy Prime Minister S.Amarsaikhan held a meeting with corresponding officials to discuss accelerating the progress of the gas pipeline project.

The development of the project’s feasibility study is currently at 60 percent, and works are being carried out to complete the study by the fourth quarter of this year, noted project leader L.Amarsanaa. The feasibility study is being conducted with the length of the gas pipeline to pass through the territory of Mongolia as 966.8 km. As engineering studies are necessary to be carried out in order to ensure preparations for the construction work, policy support is required from the Government, highlighted CEO of the special-purpose company Gazoprovod Soyuz Vostok Aseev Evgeny Nikolaevich.

In turn, Deputy Prime Minister S.Amarsaikhan expressed that he will pay special attention to certain matters being urgently resolved, such as issuing a construction permit, deciding on the quota for workers, extending the work permit of the company staff, and being exempt or reducing the foreign workforce fee.

As for taking the land to be used for the gas pipeline and corresponding structures under state special needs, it was decided to have the issue discussed at Cabinet meeting in the near future.

With the gas pipeline, 50 billion cubic meters of gas is planned to be transported through the territory of Mongolia, and a fee of about USD 1 billion is estimated to be contributed to the state budget.

The Ministry of Health reported that 2,565 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the past 24 hours. Specifically, 1,322 cases were confirmed in Ulaanbaatar city, with 1243 cases in rural regions.

As of today, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Mongolia stands at 330,869. 8,236 patients have made recoveries in the past 24 hours.

Furthermore, 17 new COVID-19 related deaths have been reported, raising the country’s death toll to 1,409. Currently, 19,433 people are receiving hospital treatment for COVID-19 whilst 60,425 people with mild symptoms of COVID-19 are being isolated at home.

A total of 7294 have been diagnosed with COVID-19 despite having been inoculated with a third COVID-19 vaccine dose, according to Ts.Bilegtsaikhan, director of National Center of Communicative Disease. As for people who get two doses of vaccine, infection rate was seven percent or 1500 people.

Some 332,000 Mongolians have been administered a third booster shot so far, in a drive that began later August.

An additional 2565 people were diagnosed with the virus, bringing the total number of cases in Mongolia since the start of the pandemic to 330,869.

Mongolia’s virus death toll is now at 1,482 with 17 fatalities recorded today (13 October).

The NCCD director said that out of Mongolia’s population of over 3.2 million, 2.1 million have gotten two doses of vaccine and over 322,000 have been administered a third booster shot.

Global copper mine production is set to expand by 7.8% y-o-y in 2021 as a result of multiple new projects coming online and low-base effects due to covid-19 lockdowns reducing output in 2020, market analyst Fitch Solutions finds in its latest industry report.

Output over the next few years is slated to be strong, as a number of new projects and expansions come online, supported by rising copper prices and demand.

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Fitch forecasts global copper mine production to increase by an average annual rate of 3.8% over 2021-2030, with annual output rising from 20.2mnt in 2020 to 29.4mnt by the end of the decade.

Chile is the world’s top copper producer, and leading project development are mainly large-scale miners BHP and Teck Resources, which have been attracted to the country’s well-developed infrastructure, extensive reserves and history of stability.

Chile has attracted a substantial amount of mining investment in recent years, which will begin to pay off over the coming years as new projects are slated to come online, and the analyst’s 2021 growth forecast is primarily underpinned by the start-up of BHP’s Spence Growth Option project. First production was achieved in December 2020 and is projected to increase payable copper production by 185kt per annum once ramped up — the process is expected to take 12 months.

In the longer term, a decline in average ore grades across the sector in Chile presents a key downside risk to production forecasts, Fitch notes, as ore grades decline, and higher amounts of ore need to be processed in order to yield an equivalent amount of copper each year.

Copper is in high demand for use in renewable energy and electric vehicles, but new deposits are rare and increasingly difficult to recover.

While Chile is the world’s biggest copper producer, Fitch expects Australia and Canada to dominate new projects. The analyst has ranked the world’s top ten copper projects by capex, with Chile absent from the list.

Source: Fitch Solutions

In first place is Seabridge Gold’s KSM project in British Columbia, Canada with a capex allocation of $12.1 million. In November 2020, Seabridge refiled the technical report: Proved Reserves: 460mnt; Mine Life: 44 years. The project includes Kerr, Sulphurets, Mitchell and Iron Cap deposits.

Rio Tinto-controlled Turquoise Hill Resources’ massive Oyu Tolgoi expansion in Mongolia takes second place, with an $11.9 million capex. The project has been plagued with delays and cost overruns, but Turquoise Hill is expected to commence production at the project in October 2022. The $5.3bn underground development at the mine remains on schedule to be completed by 2022; Rio Tinto has 50.8% interest in Turquoise Hill Resources. Proved Reserves: 355mnt; Mine Life: 31years.

SolGold and Cornerstone Resources’ jointly held Cascabel project in Ecuador is in 3rd place with a capex allocation of just over $10 million. Measured Resources: 1192mnt; Mine Life: 66years; The project includes Alpala deposit; Expected Production: 150kt/yr Proved Reserves: 604mnt; Mine Life: 33years; Expected Production: 175kt/yr.

Coming in at number 4 is the Freida River project in Papua New Guinea with a $7.8 million allocated capex. Proved Reserves: 569mnt; Mine Life: 20years.

MMG’s Izok Corridor project in Canada’s Nunavut’s Bathurst Inlet is in 5th place with a $6.5 million allocated capex. Indicated Resources: 21.4mnt; The project includes Izok Lake and High Lake deposits.

Teck’s Galore Creek project in British Columbia, Canada in 6th place with a $6.1 million capex allocation. In October 2018 Novagold Resources sold 50% stake in the project to Newmont Corporation. Measured Resources (Newmont Corporation’s 50% stake): 128.4mnt; Mine Life: 18.5years; Expected Production: 146.1kt/ yr.

Alcantara Group’s Tampakan project in the Philippines holds seventh place with a $5.9 million capex. However, in August 2020 the Philippine government has cancelled an agreement with Alcantara Group to develop the mine. Estimated Production: 375kt/yr; Resources: 2940mnt; Mine Life: 17years.

Kaz Minerals’ Baimskya project in Russia has a $5.5 million capex allocation. KAZ is expected to complete bankable feasibility study for the project in H121; Mine Life: 25years; Measured Resources: 139mnt; Expected Start Year: 2027; Expected Production: 250kt/yr.

Rounding out Fitch’s list is Antofagasta’s Twin Metals project in Minnesota. Antofagasta has submitted a plan to state and federal authorities for the project; Measured Resources: 291.4mnt; Mine Life: 25 years; The project includes Maturi, Birch Lake, Maturi Southwest and Spruce Road deposits.

In September, the Bank of Mongolia (BoM) purchased 2 tons of precious metal. Thus, total amount of precious metal purchase has reached 15.0 tons since the beginning of this year, showing a decrease of 2.2 tons compared to the same period of previous year.

The BoM branches in Darkhan-Uul and Bayankhongor aimag bought 97.8 kg and 156 kg of precious metals respectively.

The average price of BoM’s purchase of 1 gram of gold was MNT 162,906.07 last month.

According to the Monetary Policy Committee's decision to provide long-term repo financing in the fourth quarter of this year, a total of MNT 160 billion was disbursed by the Bank of Mongolia to four commercial banks.

With the financing, the banks will issue loans of up to MNT 3 billion with a term of two years and an interest rate of 10.5 percent per annum to small and medium enterprises, individuals and non-mining exporters in accordance with the criteria approved by the Governor of the Bank of Mongolia on February 19.

On October 8, the ‘Selbe’ heating plant has been put into operation in the framework of Tranche 1 for the Ulaanbaatar Urban Services and Ger Areas Development Investment Program being implemented with financing from the Asian Development Bank and the European Investment Bank.

With a capacity of 28 MW, the plant has a capacity to supply residents living in a total area of 158 hectares in the capital city’s Sukhbaatar and Chingeltei districts. In the framework of the tranche, the Bayankhoshuu subcenter is also being connected to the central heating system.

“Equipped with modern, environmentally friendly technology, the Selbe heating plant meets the safety requirements for public and environmental health,” highlighted Deputy Governor of the Capital City J.Sandagsuren.

While the heating plant’s blueprint was done by the Institute of Thermal Engineering and Industrial Ecology at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology, the construction was carried out by ‘Khurd’ JSC as the general contractor under the monitoring of the Capital City Investment Department.

Currently, there are 3,260 households and 117 entities at the Selbe subcenter. The heating plant is expected to supply heat to some 7,000 households and over 300 entities in the future.

Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Mongolia recorded 1,566 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the national tally to 328,304, the country's health ministry reported on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, 15 more patients aged over 20 died in the past day, bringing the nationwide death toll to 1,392.

The resurgence of COVID-19 has continued due to the Delta wave, and more than 1,000 infections and 10 or more deaths have been reported daily in the country with a population of around 3.4 million.

The Asian country launched a national vaccination campaign in late February, with the aim of covering at least 60 percent of its population. So far, 65.6 percent of the population has received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccines.

The country's health authorities have urged the public to strictly follow health guidelines and receive a booster or a third vaccine dose to boost their immune systems.