Coronavirus spreading in New York like 'a bullet train' www.bbc.com

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has pleaded for medical supplies, warning Covid-19 is spreading in his state faster than "a bullet train".

"The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought," Mr Cuomo told reporters on Tuesday.

He said the federal government was not sending anywhere near enough lifesaving equipment to confront the crisis.

New York now has over 25,000 confirmed virus cases and at least 210 deaths.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday the US has the potential to become the new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic.

The warnings come as President Donald Trump said he hoped the US would reopen for business next month.

"New York is the canary in the coal mine, New York is happening first, what is happening to New York will happen to California and Illinois, it is just a matter of time."

The governor blasted the 400 ventilators sent to New York from the US Federal Emergency Management Agency.

He said: "You pick the 26,000 people who are going to die because you only sent 400 ventilators."

New York currently has 7,000 ventilators, but needs 30,000, the governor said.

Mr Cuomo continued: "The [infection] forecaster said to me, 'We were looking at a freight train coming across the country.'

"'We're now looking at a bullet train.'"

The state is also looking into creating more healthcare areas, possibly by turning college dormitories and hotels into makeshift hospitals.

With 25,665 cases in New York, the state accounts for more than half of all US infections.

The number of new cases in the state is doubling every three days, the governor said, and showing no sign of slowing down.

Mr Cuomo said the rate of infections could overwhelm the healthcare system. New York may need up to 140,000 hospital beds in a worst-case scenario, he said.

The governor also said he would not "put a dollar amount on human life", in what was seen as an implicit criticism of Mr Trump's concerns that measures to contain the virus could wreck the US economy.

"My mother is not expendable and your mother is not expendable," said Mr Cuomo.

A minor New York celebrity who poses for tourist photos as the Naked Cowboy wears a mask in mostly deserted Times Square
A tale of two media events
On Tuesday afternoon, Donald Trump sat in the verdant White House grounds for a Fox News "virtual town hall" and said he hoped to get US businesses reopened by Easter, in just over two weeks.

"A great American resurrection," the Fox host suggested.

A few hours earlier, Governor Cuomo held a much more sombre press conference at the Javits Center in Manhattan. The building, which three years ago hosted Hillary Clinton's ill-fated election-night party, is now a makeshift field hospital.

The president and the governor - two New Yorkers with a long history - clashed over the state's shortage of ventilators to treat the most serious cases.

Mr Trump blamed Mr Cuomo for not purchasing more in 2015, citing a conspiracy-mongering website. Mr Cuomo said the administration should use its emergency powers to order more machines manufactured.

When it comes to easing the recent shelter-in-place orders, governors like Mr Cuomo, not the president, will have the final say.

If there's disagreement, however, the American public could be left wondering what to believe.

Why Trump wants US open for business despite pandemic
What did President Trump say?
On Tuesday, President Trump told Fox News he hoped the country could get back to normal by Easter, which is 19 days away.

Mr Trump, a Republican, said: "We're going to be opening relatively soon... I would love to have the country opened up and just rearing to go by Easter."

He added: "Easter is a very special day for me... and you'll have packed churches all over our country."

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Mr Trump also warned that otherwise the country could suffer "a massive recession or depression".

The president said: "You're going to lose people. You're going to have suicides by the thousands. You're going to have all sorts of things happen.

"You're going to have instability. You can't just come in and say, 'Let's close up the United States of America, the most successful country in the world by far.'"

Speaking at a White House briefing later, Mr Trump said "our decision will be based on hard facts and data as to the opening [of our country]".

According to the latest Gallup poll, his approval rating has risen five points this month to 49%, the best of his presidency.

There are over 53,000 confirmed cases and more than 700 deaths attributed to Covid-19 in the US.

Dr Deborah Birx, of the White House coronavirus taskforce, said the New York City metro area was the source of 56% of all cases and 60% of all new cases in the country. She advised anyone leaving the region to self-quarantine for two weeks.

On Tuesday, Wisconsin, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Mexico, West Virginia and Indiana were introducing stay-at-home orders, bringing the total number of US states under such lockdowns to 17.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill have been debating the details of an economic stimulus package that could total over $2 trillion (£1.7 trillion).

Democrats and the White House indicated negotiations could conclude on Tuesday, with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin saying "the president wants us to get this done today".

In other developments:

A New Jersey man has been charged with making a terroristic threat after he coughed on an employee of a Wegmans supermarket during an argument on Monday, and then claimed to have coronavirus. Governor Phil Murphy described the suspect as a "knucklehead"
A 26-year-old in Missouri was arrested on Monday and charged with making a terrorist threat after he posted a video earlier this month of himself licking deodorants at a Walmart store while asking: "Who's scared of the coronavirus?"
An individual in Kentucky tested positive after attending a "coronavirus party", according to the state's governor, who added: "Don't be so callous as to intentionally go to something and expose yourself to something that can kill other people"
A 31-year-old Mexican national detained by US immigration officials in New Jersey became the first individual to test positive for Covid-19 while in the agency's custody

"We will not return!’: some Mongolians decide to stay abroad

United States providing assistance to support Mongolia's COVID-19 response www.montsame.mn

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United States of America to Mongolia Michael S. Klecheski today, March 24, announced during a press conference of the Ministry of Health that the U.S. government through the U.S. Agency for International Development is providing more than MNT 3.3 billion or USD 1.2 million to the World Health Organization (USD 700 thousand) and the United Nations Children's Fund (USD 500 thousand) to support the Mongolian government’s COVID-19 response.

'At least' $7.8b more needed to complete Rio's Mongolian copper mine www.afr.com

Rio Tinto's Mongolian copper project will require a bigger than expected fundraising, after the Rio subsidiary building the mine said it needed to raise ''at least'' six times its current market capitalisation.

The subsidiary, Turquoise Hill Resources, shed fresh light on its financial predicament over the weekend, saying it needed at least a further $US4.5 billion ($7.8 billion) to complete an underground expansion of Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi mine.

Massive cost and schedule blowouts on the expansion were last year revealed to have delayed completion by between 16 and 30 months, while the cost of construction was said to be between $US1.2 billion and $US1.9 billion higher than the previous budget of $US5.3 billion.

But the higher construction bill was just the start of the extra costs facing Turquoise Hill, which has no other assets and is 50.79 per cent owned by Rio.

Turquoise Hill has $US1.59 billion of contractual obligations due for payment before December 31, 2022, and the delays mean it can no longer rely on cash flows from the expansion to help cover those obligations.

The contractual obligations range from electricity contracts to repayments on the $US4.4 billion debt package that was supposed to be sufficient to complete the project when raised from a syndicate of banks (including Australia's NAB and ANZ) in 2015.

Turquoise Hill also must find $US924 million to cover the cost of a power station for the mine, after the Mongolian government refused to allow Oyu Tolgoi to continue buying electricity from generators in neighbouring China.

The company's problems are rapidly being exacerbated by the global lockdowns forced by the coronavirus, which has prompted a 23 per cent slump in copper prices in the past two months.

That means the existing mine at Oyu Tolgoi will likely generate less cash flow this year than was expected just a few months ago, while travel restrictions for the virus are also slowing the pace of work on the expansion.

''Current estimates indicate an incremental funding requirement, over and above the $US2.2 billion in liquidity currently available, of at least $US4.5 billion,'' Turquoise Hill said in a market filing.

Turquoise Hill shares have lost 83 per cent of their value over the past 13 months since the cost and schedule blowouts raised fears the miner may need to conduct a massive and dilutive equity raising.

The company's market capitalisation stood at just $US724 million on Monday, meaning the $US4.5 billion shortfall nominated over the weekend is more than six times the company's value.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Dalton Baretto estimated in November that Turquoise Hill would need an extra $US4.1 billion to complete the expansion and cover its obligations.

He said those funds could be sourced from an equity raising, extra debt or possibly a metal streaming deal, where future metal production is traded for immediate cash.

Turquoise Hill has told Rio, but not investors, what its preferred method of raising the money is, but Rio has indicated those plans are unlikely to be clarified before the exact size of the cost and schedule blowouts are known in the latter months of 2020.

Sailingstone Capital was for many years the second-biggest shareholder in Turquoise Hill and was regularly vocal about what it believed was Rio's excessive influence over Turquoise Hill.

Sailingstone more than halved its stake in Turquoise Hill during 2019 as the financial predicament became clear, and ironically revealed in filings to regulators that it had added Rio Tinto securities to its portfolio.

Mongolia: Petro Matad provides update on Mongolia operations www.energy-pedia.com

Petro Matad, the AIM quoted Mongolian oil explorer, has provided an operational update on its activities in Mongolia.

Highlights

Block XX Update

Progressing Block XX Exploitation Licence Application
Competent Persons' Report increases total mean unrisked in-place oil resource potential of the Heron structure by 20% to 194 million barrels
Reservoir stimulation studies indicate significant improvements in recovery factor are possible
Heron development base case increased to 33 million barrels recoverable
Portfolio Review

Portfolio review underway seeking to balance a production focus with near field exploration opportunities as well as some additional potentially high impact opportunities
Covid-19

Managing the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the Company's business
10 cases have been confirmed in-country with the first reported on 10 March
Mongolian Government is taking a very proactive approach
Block XX Update

Following the success of the 2019 Block XX drilling campaign which resulted in the discovery of oil in the Gazelle-1 and Heron-1 wells, as well as Heron-1 delivering one of the highest flow rates ever recorded in Mongolia, Petro Matad is now focused on securing the Exploitation Licence, required under the Production Sharing Contract (PSC), to enter into the development phase on Block XX.

Block XX Exploitation Licence

Petro Matad has been advised by the Mongolian authorities that there is support at the highest levels of Government to grant the Exploitation Licence for Block XX to Petro Matad. The Government recognises that the Company has been the country's most active oil explorer over recent years and that the success of its 2019 exploration efforts is very well timed in light of the Government's commitment to the construction of the new domestic oil refinery.

The Government has recently adopted the internationally recognised Petroleum Resource Management System for assessing mineral and petroleum resources, which it is applying for the first time to the review procedure for Petro Matad's Exploitation Licence application. At the same time, the authorities also want to follow the steps used the last time an Exploitation Licence was granted in Mongolia (to Petro China in 2011). This process involves the preparation of detailed Appraisal and Reserves Reports. These have been completed and submitted and are now being reviewed by MRPAM, the industry regulator, and by the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry (MMHI). Once they are approved, a Plan of Development and Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) must then be submitted. The preparation of these documents is already well-advanced, and we are pushing hard to expedite the approval process and to secure the Exploitation Licence, although we expect it will take a number of months for the Government to go through its review procedures. The Company's Exploitation Licence application covers an area that includes both the Heron and Gazelle discoveries and the surrounding near-field exploration potential identified by the Company.

Photo - see caption
Petro Matad is now focused on securing the Exploitation Licence for Block XX
Competent Persons' Report (CPR) and reservoir stimulation studies

As part of the Reserves Reporting preparations, the Company commissioned Leap Energy to prepare a CPR for the northern part of Block XX where the Company's discoveries are located. The CPR concluded that the Heron structure has mean, unrisked in-place oil resource potential of 194 million barrels. This is 20% higher than the Company's initial internal assessment and offers the potential for substantial commercial value given the low-cost, onshore operating environment and the favourable Mongolian fiscal regime.

Fenix Consulting Delft, a specialist in reservoir stimulation, has modelled the Heron 1 well test data to assess the production and recovery potential of the Tsagaantsav oil sands found in the well. They concluded that modern stimulation techniques and reservoir pressure support through produced water re-injection can improve oil recovery significantly from the levels achieved to date in neighbouring blocks. Further enhancement by slanted or horizontal drilling to increase reservoir contact and radial drilling to enhance wellbore drainage are additional technologies under consideration to increase well productivity. These techniques have not been widely used in Mongolia to date.

The work conducted by Fenix combined with the resource numbers from the CPR support the base case submitted to the Mongolian Government of an appraisal/development programme on the Heron discovery targeting a mean recoverable reserve of 33 million barrels using a recovery factor of only 17%. This is in line with what has been achieved to date in Mongolia and there is considerable upside potential that could be realised through the application of the improved oil recovery techniques as detailed above.

Portfolio Review

Blocks IV and V

Following post well studies on Wild Horse 1 and recognising the short time remaining on the Block IV PSC without any clearly defined, high-graded drillable targets, the Company has proposed to the Government to relinquish the Block with a view to potential partnering and relicencing of its more prospective areas in the future.

Petro Matad has a significant competitive advantage in that it has deep technical and operational knowledge of the basins of western Mongolia, more so than any other operator. This presents an opportunity for other industry players to leverage these insights by partnering with Petro Matad under an appropriate arrangement.

On Block V, Velociraptor, Fox and Phoenix are high impact prospects that the Company has matured to drillable status in the Taats and Tugrug Basins where it has proved that active petroleum systems are present. The Company would like to drill these prospects. To this end, Petro Matad has proposed to the Government a moratorium on the Block V PSC to give more time for the Company to secure partners and/or funding for the next phase of Block V exploration. The moratorium application is currently under discussion and we will update the market on these discussions in due course.

Portfolio Development

The Company has submitted a request to the Government to review data on specific areas not currently licenced in Mongolia with a view to signing new PSCs and re-loading the portfolio to provide a balance of production, development, appraisal, near field and high impact exploration.

Covid-19

The Mongolian Government has taken a very proactive approach from the start of the coronavirus outbreak. Public gatherings are banned until the end of April at the earliest and Mongolia's land border with China has been closed to everything but cargo, which has also periodically been the case for its border with Russia. After the identification of the first case of the virus reported in the country on 10 March, when a visitor from Europe arrived and subsequently tested positive, all international flights were suspended until at least 30 April. Currently there are 10 confirmed cases in the country, all but the first being Mongolians repatriated from abroad, quarantined on arrival and who subsequently tested positive. The country has closed its borders to all foreigners entering for the time being. These measures, if prolonged, will impact the oil sector in Mongolia, which relies heavily on Chinese equipment and workers in its production and development operations.

Currently there is no significant impact on Petro Matad's operations as we remain focused on working with the Mongolian authorities to secure approvals and permits. The Government ministries are open and functioning as normal. Petro Matad's senior Mongolian managers are in country and operating normally. Some international members of the team are working from their home locations. The Company is liaising with the authorities and taking all precautions to ensure the safety of its staff and contractors.

Mike Buck, the CEO of Petro Matad said:

'Our staff and contractors are working exceptionally hard in the highly unusual circumstances that the ongoing coronavirus pandemic has generated and the Company is very appreciative of their commitment and diligence. We are monitoring the situation closely and are pleased to advise that there has been no significant impact on Petro Matad's operations, whilst we focus our efforts towards securing approvals and permits for the Company's near-term work programme.

Progressing the Block XX Exploitation Licence is taking longer than we had hoped but we are encouraged by the level of support we are seeing from the relevant authorities and the highest levels of Government as we go through the process.

The recently commissioned CPR has concluded that the Heron discovery has the potential to contain mean, unrisked, in-place oil resources of 194 million barrels. This is 20% higher than our initial internal assessment and highlights the significant resource potential of this proven play.

As we work towards securing the Exploitation Licence for Block XX, we are actively managing our cash resources and evaluating our partnering and funding options to ensure that we are well placed to rapidly develop the Heron discovery and start generating revenue as soon as possible after the Exploitation Licence is in hand. We are also looking at refreshing the portfolio to incorporate a balance of risk and reward as we plan for the Company's future as an oil producer and explorer in Mongolia.

Belarusian BelAZ ships first bulldozer to Mongolia www.belarus.by

MINSK, 23 March (BelTA) – The Belarusian automobile engineering company BelAZ has shipped a bulldozer and several dust control sprinklers to Mongolia, the company’s press service told BelTA.

Virus control measures to hit Rio Tinto operations in South Africa, Canada www.reuters.com

Rio Tinto said on Tuesday operations at its mineral sands mine in South Africa will be halted and activity in Quebec, Canada will slow down due to government directives in both countries to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Turquoise Hill announces financial results and review of operations for 2019 www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. On March 21, Turquoise Hill Resources, an international mining company who owns 66 percent of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia and focuses on the operation and development of the mine, announced its financial results for the year ended December 31, 2019.

“For 2019, the Oyu Tolgoi mine recorded another year of excellent operational results, and record industry leading safety performance,” stated Ulf Quellmann, Turquoise Hill’s Chief Executive Officer. “Our team at Oyu Tolgoi continues to maximize our production efficiencies, which resulted in our full year copper production to fall within our original guidance, and our gold production exceeding our original targets. In addition, the mill throughput achieved its fourth year in a row of operating at above name-plate capacity.”

“2019 was also a pivotal year for the underground development with the completion of the above-ground infrastructure and Shaft 2. Shaft 2 is a critical piece of infrastructure that allows the team to accelerate the underground development. Productivity gains in the underground development over the last five months of 2019 have shown steady improvements with December achieving a new record of over 1,800 meters of lateral equivalent meters.”

“Today, COVID-19 presents a pandemic on a global scale that is affecting everyone and certainly also our business. We have got measures in place including a business resilience team at Oyu Tolgoi to monitor, manage and mitigate the effects of COVID-19. At this stage, the situation is very fluid and hence we are not in a position to specify the impact on cost and schedule. In the meantime, we continue to work closely with our customers, our suppliers and the Government of Mongolia”.

Some highlights of 2019

• The Oyu Tolgoi mine achieved another strong all injury frequency rate of 0.16 per 200,000 hours worked for the year ended December 31, 2019. AIFR steadily declined since 2013, dropping 64% from 2013 through 2019.

• Full year copper production of 146,346 tonnes vs original guidance range of 125,000 – 155,000 tonnes.

• Full year gold production of 241,840 ounces vs original guidance range of 180,000 – 220,000 ounces.

• Full year mill throughput of 40,777,225 tonnes, an increase of 5% over 2018.

• Revenue of $1.2 billion in 2019 decreased 1.2% over 2018, impacted by lower copper production partly offset by higher gold revenue driven by a higher average annual gold price in 2019.

• Cash used in operating activities before interest and taxes was $341.7 million, a decrease from $363.0 million generated in 2018, primarily reflecting the impact of reduced revenue.

• Total operating cash costs of $774.5 million for 2019 came in under the Company’s revised guidance and decreased 5.2% over 2018. This decrease was due to lower freight and royalty costs driven by lower volumes of concentrate sold and lower sales revenue respectively, and lower milling costs due to lower maintenance costs.

• Underground expansion capital for 2019 was $1.2 billion, meeting the upper-end of the Company’s revised guidance.

• Shaft 2 construction was completed in October 2019, and was fully commissioned in February 2020. Construction is progressing on Shafts 3 and 4 with both collars now installed. Final preparations are now underway to enable commencement of main sinking operations for both shafts during the second quarter of 2020.

• The Tavan Tolgoi Power Plant (TTPP) Feasibility Study was submitted to the Government of Mongolia on February 17, 2020 by Oyu Tolgoi LLC. The study is based on a 300 MW coal fired power plant to be located at the Tavan Tolgoi coal fields approximately 150 kilometres from Oyu Tolgoi.

• In February 2020, the Company announced that Oyu Tolgoi LLC has been unable to reach a resolution of its dispute with the Mongolian Tax Authority with respect to its tax assessment, and will be proceeding with the initiation of a formal international arbitration proceeding in accordance with the dispute resolution provisions of the Investment Agreement and the Underground Plan.

In 2020, Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce 140,000 to 170,000 tonnes of copper and 120,000 to 150,000 ounces of gold in concentrates in 2020 from both the open pit and the beginning of the underground development material being processed. Operating cash costs for 2020 are expected to be $800 million to $850 million.

Coal shipment resumes through Gashuunsukhait border checkpoint www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. In accordance with the decision made by the Government of Mongolia, the Ministry of Roads and Transport Development, National Road Transport Center, Customs General Administration, State Professional Inspection Agency and freight forwarding companies have resumed coal shipment through Gashuunsukhait border checkpoint. The coal exports were suspended for two months due to the heightened state of readiness.

Yokozuna Hakuho M.Davaajargal wins record-extending 44th championship title www.montsame.mn

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. 69th Yokozuna Hakuho M.Davaajargal has won his 44th Grand Sumo Tournament by coming out victorious over 71st Yokozuna Kakuryu M.Anand on the final day of the Spring Grand Sumo Tournament organized in Osaka, Japan. He wrapped up the tournament with 13 wins and 2 losses.