The rig for the Heron-1 well had been put on standby, at an ongoing cost to the company, pending the resolution of a dispute over land use.

'The company can now report that the central and provincial governments are resolving their issues and have given verbal approval for the company to resume operations whilst the necessary paperwork is completed,' Petro Matad said.

Preparations were now being made to drill the well, while the company also worked with the local governor to sign a land use agreement.

The signed agreement was expected to be executed 'within the next few days'.

Total standby costs incurred to date were of the order of $150k.

'The company hopes to be able to make up some of the time lost on standby and based on current forecasts, drilling operations on Heron-1 and Gazelle-1 can be completed well within the normal operating period of the Mongolian drilling season.'

At 9:57am: [LON:MATD] Petro Matad Ltd share price was +1.38p at 7.28p

In May, Mongolian President Kh. Battulga invited Putin to visit to the country and take part in the celebrations on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of joint victory in the Battles of Khalkhin Gol.

Celebration of Khalkh Gol Victory will start with concert of the Russian A.V.Alexandrov Army Academic Song and Dance Ensemble on Ulaanbaatar’s Sukhbaatar Square on 28 August. In addition, there will be a concert of the Igor Moiseyev State Academic Ensemble, a military parade and salute, a fly past, a concert of Mongolian and Russian singers and dancers as well as events for young people and children.

The conflict near the Khalkhin Gol River on Mongolian soil between the combined forces of the Soviet Union and Mongolia against Japan began in 1939. The battle lasted from May until September, resulting in the defeat of the Japanese Sixth Army, which had sought to reach Chita and Baikal and show China that “the Soviet military assistance was unreliable.” Later, Moscow and Tokyo signed a ceasefire agreement. Following Khalkhin Gol, Japan never again attacked the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945).

The feasibility study and blueprint costs are to be covered. Head of the Cabinet Secretariat L.Oyun-Erdene, Minister of Finance Ch.Khurelbaatar, and Governor of the capital city S.Amarsaikhan were tasked with the 2020 budgetary allocation of funds for designing and constructing the facility, and with looking for other financial sources.

In brief:

- The Cabinet decided to submit the revised draft Law on Tobacco Control to the Parliament

- The regulation on permit for export and import of strategic food products was approved. It is considered that the regulation will ensure stable food supply.

The figure was announced earlier by Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin, but he did not elaborate on when the current level of $108 billion will be doubled. In the first seven months of this year, the volume of trade between the two countries has already jumped almost 5 percent, Chinese customs data shows.

Beijing considers Moscow as a trusted partner and is opening its markets more and more to Russian products, according to the diplomat. While Beijing is embroiled in an escalating trade war with Washington and is cutting imports from the US, especially on agricultural products, it needs new suppliers and eyes Russia as a good replacement.

“We will choose a new supplier. And Russia is the most reliable one,” Zhang said.

Apart from goods, China is interested in boosting imports of Russian gas, the envoy noted. Russian gas supplies to China are behind Qatar, Australia, and some Central Asian states, but the vast Chinese market has “huge potential” for Moscow, according to Zhang.

In 2014, the two sides inked a gas deal which laid the foundations for the construction of the Power of Siberia pipeline. The project, with annual export capacity of 38 billion cubic meters, is set to become operational on December 1.

Xanadu Mines Ltd - Xanadu Mines hits 40 metres at 2.3 g/t gold in first assay batch 
Additional assays remains pending and follow-up drilling is underway
Xanadu Mines Ltd (ASX:XAM) has received the first batch of assays from drilling targeting shallow oxide gold at the Stockwork Hill prospect within its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia.

Highlights from the first two holes include 40 metres at 2.3 g/t gold from surface and 40 metres at 0.81 g/t gold from surface.

The results have increased the company’s confidence in the oxide gold opportunity at Stockwork Hill, which is the first prospect to be drilled outside and above the Kharmagtai copper-gold deposit.

Assays remain pending for a further six holes in the eight-hole program

Gold content underestimated
Xanadu’s CEO Dr Andrew Stewart said: “We are very pleased by these initial drill results from the mineralised oxide zone above the Stockwork Hill deposit.

“Assays from the first two drill holes in the eight-hole program confirm our belief that previous drilling within the oxide zone above the sulphide deposits has underestimated the gold contained.

“These outstanding gold intercepts generated at Stockwork Hill show just how underexplored the broader Kharmagtai Project is for oxide gold mineralisation and validates the current plan of developing a low-cost, high-value gold starter project at Kharmagtai.”

Objective remains developing Mongolia’s next large-scale deposit
Stewart added: “Our long-running objective is to develop Mongolia’s next large-scale open pit copper and gold deposit.

“However, given Kharmagtai sits on a granted mining lease with a registered water resource and an established power supply nearby, we have the ability to move quickly on an oxide gold project and our current strategy of seeking high-return options via an oxide gold project is focused on providing the capital needed to advance that larger-scale copper and gold project.”

Residents of Somon Gurvantes demand from the government to preserve the natural heritage. On August 12, the Prime Minister of Mongolia, U. Khurelsukh, instructed the Minister of Industry to make a decision today on canceling mining licenses in the territory of this specially protected zone. “The issue of the withdrawal of mining equipment located in the zone should also be timely resolved. If you cannot complete this work, then the relevant officials should resign themselves, ”the Prime Minister said.

The introduction of the PBOC digital currency is aimed at asserting state control of cryptocurrency circulation, according to the official. It will comply with China’s regulations on fraud and money laundering, and will be based on a “two-tier” system, with the central bank partnering up with some other Chinese financial institutions to oversee its supply.

Mu also noted that the digital currency would not solely be based on blockchain technology, citing fears that it might not be able to process the transaction volume necessary for China.

The PBOC stated earlier in August that it plans to “expedite the research of China’s legal digital tender” and monitor the trends of virtual currency development both abroad and at home. The Chinese central bank reportedly sped up the development of its digital currency after Facebook announced plans to launch a global digital coin, Libra.

Facebook’s digital coin has been widely criticized since it was announced, with authorities in the UK, the US, and Russia expressing concern that Libra could create risks for the global financial system due to uncontrolled capital flows.

China was one of the first countries to impose restrictions on cryptocurrencies. Back in 2013, financial institutions were banned from transactions with them. In 2014, banks and payment systems had to stop servicing accounts for trading in cryptocurrency. In 2017 the government ordered all local crypto exchanges to stop their operations. Initial coin offerings, or ICOs, were also banned. Following this, almost 100 cryptocurrency exchanges were closed.

China won’t be the first nation to launch a cryptocurrency. Last year, Venezuela launched Petro, aiming to get around US sanctions. However, Petro coins have not entered into wider circulation to date.

A working team set up by Minister N.Tserenbat had discovered several violations of mining standards and activities with incomplete documents during the company’s mining operations on the territory of Tost, Toson Bumba Mountains. Furthermore, by a scheduled inspection of the Umnugobi aimag’s Inspection Agency four months ago, some 31 violations were found, such as failures to pay fee of water use and royalty and failures to carry out operations according to the plan and carry out an environmental impact assessment.

Minister N.Tserenbat noted that the company is not entitled to a reimbursement due to the company’s non-fulfillment of land rehabilitation duties and damages caused to the environment. “This is a notice to other mining companies that may not abide by law. Further, inspections will be conducted on companies holding 34 special licenses on the territory near the Nariin Sukhait deposits. If it is found to have breached the law, their special licenses will be terminated."

Moreover, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism has written a bill to make amendments to the border of the Tost, Toson Bumba Nature Reserve and obtain 153469,47 ha of land in total under Specially Protected Area. The bill will be introduced and reviewed at the cabinet meeting this week.

In the past months, local citizens and non-governmental organizations have been complaining about illegal activities and demanding the government to protect the environment and natural heritage. Yesterday on August 12, Prime Minister of Mongolia U.Khurelsukh ordered corresponding officials to revoke licenses of any company engaged in unlawful mining operations on the area and secure the Tost, Toson Bumba Nature Reserve as the Specially Protected Area.