China and Mongolia conducted the "Border Defense Cooperation-2023" joint exercise on Nov. 10, China's Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday.

The exercise was carried out in the border region near a prefecture in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, according to Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson for the ministry.

Concentrated on joint actions between the two countries to curb border crimes, the event involved drills on joint command, joint reconnaissance, operational disposition and joint action, Zhang said, adding that the exercise has enhanced the two militaries' operational capabilities of safeguarding the security and stability in border regions.

The two sides also organized activities such as weapons and equipment displays, and other military-related cultural exchanges after the exercise, Zhang said.

After completing a massive infill and extension campaign at its Kharmagtai copper-gold project in Mongolia, Xanadu Mines has shifted its focus to new discoveries outside the site’s current mineral resource.

The company is now operating three diamond drill rigs at Kharmagtai, with four deep holes planned to target mineralisation below its biggest deposit identified to date at White Hill. Results from the first hole sunk at White Hill have already extended the mineralised system by more than 600m, with a massive 1080m intercept grading 0.06 grams per tonne gold and 0.17 per cent copper from 491m for 0.21 per cent copper equivalent or 0.41g/t gold equivalent.

Xanadu says the deep drill campaign has been designed to ensure that a potential high-grade, large-scale and deeper “Oyu Tolgoi”-style deposit is discovered early in the prefeasibility process, allowing optimal infrastructure decisions to be made. Oyu Tolgoi, in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, is one of the world’s biggest known copper and gold deposits.

Shallow drilling at a second cluster has also extended mineralisation 800m along strike from the current mineral resource limit and within proximity of the company’s high-grade Stockwork Hill deposit. Initial drilling results show a 144m intercept at 0.18g/t gold and 0.25 per cent copper that management believes may be a faulted offset of Stockwork Hill.

Three more clusters are being targeted with a focus on extensions to known deposits and new porphyry copper-gold systems. An additional 9000m of diamond drilling has been completed in 41 shallow holes, with more than half returning significant intercepts.

Highlights show a 15m hit at 1.26 per cent copper from 127m including 5.95m grading 2.97 per cent from 132m.

Kharmagtai has a mineral resource estimate of 1.1 billion tonnes for 3 million tonnes of contained copper and 8 million ounces of gold. Management expects to provide an updated mineral resource before the end of this year, while its prefeasibility study (PFS) is due to be completed during the second half of next year.

Following the completion of more than 52,000 metres of infill and extensional drilling at Kharmagtai, our focus has shifted to the very exciting deep and shallow discovery drilling; aimed at making new economic discoveries outside the current MRE. Following successful delivery of higher-grade mineralisation from the infill and extensional drilling program, this purposeful program represents our most significant exploration pursuit in recent years.

Xanadu Mines vice president exploration Dr Andrew Stewart

Earlier this year, the company completed two phases of its strategic partnership with Chinese copper giant Zijin Mining, giving it access to funding for its current round of exploration.

The deal saw Zijin invest US$35 million (AU$52 million), funds which will also be used to complete the Kharmagtai prefeasibility study. A 50-50 joint venture has been created between the two partners at a project level, with Xanadu the operator on the ground.

The partnership has allocated 18 months to knock over its PFS, while an earlier scoping study identified several upside opportunities that could materially upgrade the economics of the project.

One of the reasons the early Chinese emperors built the Great Wall was to stop the invasion of Mongolian hordes. With the size and scope of the copper-gold resource Xanadu is building at Kharmagtai, the sentiment between the two countries may now have been reversed.

Australia’s lithium and nickel producer IGO (ASX: IGO) is standing by its incoming chief executive officer, Ivan Vella, after Rio Tinto (ASX:RIO) sacked on Wednesday its former aluminum boss for an alleged breach of confidentiality.

Vella, who spent two decades at Rio Tinto, was already due to leave the mining giant in December. He is set to replace acting CEO Matt Dusci, who took the reins after former top executive Peter Bradford suddenly died last year.

IGO’s board has been under fire over its costly takeover of rival Western Areas, but it was the impending arrival of Vella which sparked a response from chairman Mike Nossal.

Incoming chief executive officer, Ivan Vella. (Image courtesy of IGO.)

“I need to acknowledge the news overnight which relates to Ivan’s departure from his previous employer,” he said in Thursday’s shareholder meeting.

“The Board is engaging with Ivan to more deeply understand the circumstances … however, it is our expectation that Ivan will start with IGO in early December as planned,” Nossal said.

Shares in the battery metals producer fell 4.3% to A$8.85 each by Thursday’s close as IGO also said it had missed the lower end of production guidance at one of its nickel mines due to a fire at its Nova nickel-copper-cobalt mine’s power plant.

IGO flagged a material writedown of nearly A$1 billion in the June financial year due to ballooning capital costs at its newly acquired Cosmos nickel project in Western Australia.

Year-to-date the stock has lost almost 33% of its value, leaving the Perth-based miner with a market capitalization of A$6.7 billion ($4.3bn).

The Mongolian Sustainable Cashmere Platform at UNDP and the Improving Adaptive Capacity and Risk Management of Rural Communities in Mongolia (ADAPT) project funded by the Green Climate Fund jointly organized the first ever Sustainable Cashmere Day-2023 event. The event took place in Ulaanbaatar bringing together government officials, the private sector, herders and cooperatives, academy, international organizations, and buyers to discuss importance of sustainable cashmere and Mongolia’s efforts towards making the cashmere more sustainable.

The goals and priorities of the Government of Mongolia on adaptation and mitigation of climate change were discussed on the event as well as the requirements and importance of sustainable and environmentally friendly livestock production. The event aimed to raise public awareness of environmentally friendly and sustainable cashmere, to support collaboration between stakeholders, and to promote industry’s best sustainable practices.

The cashmere sector is vital for Mongolia as it sustains the livelihoods of approximately one million pastoralist herders and represents Mongolia’s global brand. Herders generate about 80 percent of the country’s agricultural sector output, playing a pivotal role in diversifying the economy. Event also recognized the best herders, herder organizations, cooperatives, and cashmere industry producers who have made progress in meeting the sustainability policy and sustainable cashmere standards in Mongolia in the eight categories.

Stakeholders of the cashmere supply chain such as representatives of herders, cooperatives, national and international cashmere factories, and industry experts, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Light Industry and Ministry of Environment and Tourism discussed the policies, goals, and challenges of sustainable cashmere and animal husbandry adapted to climate change and highlighted good industry practices. Mongolian Sustainable Cashmere Platform is a collaborative umbrella mechanism established to support and enhance trust and leadership to accelerate the long-term sustainable development of the cashmere industry and to clarify the responsibilities of the stakeholders. The platform is working to identify and implement measures to eliminate the main causes that limit the sustainable development of the Mongolian cashmere industry.

Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai met with the team of the unified digital platform of public services E-Mongolia on November 13, 2023. He expressed gratitude to the engineers and colleagues from E-Mongolia Academy for their professionalism and dedication in developing the system.

Director General of E-Mongolia Academy Myagmarnaran Bavuujav briefed about updates of the E-Mongolia 4.0 platform. "Besides E-Mongolia, we are responsible for the development of 29 state systems, including KHUR, DAN, erp e-Mongolia, lavlagaa.mn, docx.gov.mn, digital signature system, notification delivery system, and opendata.gov.mn. We adhere to the principle of cooperation with the private sector, not competition. 329 organizations out of 462 that use KHUR information exchange system, for example, are private entities. In the future, there is a need to launch a national campaign to enhance the e-skills of the population. Today, the e-skills rate in Mongolia is 48.3 percent. As part of the E-Mongolia 4.0, we are working to introduce a unified payment system next year."

The e-Mongolia team was tasked to make further updates to the system, taking into account the opinions of citizens and paying special attention to e-transition in the health sector. Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene emphasized the need for cooperation with the Capital City Governor's Office in solving city problems such as public transportation and public services. During the meeting, proposals to create a unified Mongolian network, introduce a payment system, and use artificial intelligence (AI) in E-Mongolia 4.0 were put forward.

With the application of AI, E-Mongolia 4.0 is focused on increasing the number of services and simplifying their usage to enable improved and accessible services. In the future the government will be in charge of carrying out calculations, standards, and modeling of a system and the private sector will be responsible for system development," stated Uchral Nyam-Osor, Minister of Digital Development and Communications of Mongolia.

The participants noted the lack of professional personnel, high workload, and low wages, as well as the need to improve working conditions. The representatives from public organizations emphasized the importance of providing e-services, updating the system, ensuring cross-sectoral coordination, and increasing investment while paying special attention to information security.

At the end of the meeting, Prime Minister L. Oyun-Erdene noted that public organizations should run proper management rather than compete with the private sector in system development and implementation. He pledged to support the initiatives to improve working conditions for engineering and technological personnel and establish an e-office, run a national campaign to enhance the e-skills of the population and update the e-Mongolia 4.0 system.

The proposals from the meeting are to be discussed at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The E-Mongolia 1.0 system was launched on October 2, 2020, and offered 181 services from 23 public organizations. Presently, 1,106 services from 86 organizations have been integrated into E-Mongolia. The system has now 1.7 million users offering 36.5 million public services online and people have saved MNT 706.9 billion.

Large parts of Mongolia are likely to experience the extreme wintry weather "dzud" this winter, local media reported Tuesday, citing the country's National Agency for Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring.

A dzud is a brutal weather phenomenon in which a frigid winter kills vast numbers of livestock, either by starvation or freezing weather conditions.

"A recent risk assessment of the dzud showed that more than 50 percent of the total territory of our country is at high risk of experiencing dzud this winter, and 40 percent is at medium risk," the weather monitoring agency said in a statement.

Specifically, southern Gobi areas and western parts of the country, which experienced a bad summer, are very likely to experience the harsh winter, it said.

The livestock sector is a central pillar of the Mongolian economy, while the country's livestock population totaled 71.1 million by the end of 2022.

A dzud in 2016 killed more than 1 million livestock in Mongolia, a nation where pastoral herding is still common.

Around 60 percent of the Asian country's territory has so far been covered by snow after a heavy storm hit the country earlier this month, according to the agency.

Along the 1.86-kilometer route connecting Chinese and Mongolian stockyards, several autonomous driving trucks are operating back and forth between coal terminals, one of the most-traded commodities between the two countries.

The trucks have been running for nearly 16 months since China's first Auto Guided Vehicle (AGV) cross-border transport system for land port entered operation at Ganqmod Port in North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the largest highway port on the China-Mongolia border.

"The maximum speed of AGV can reach 25 kilometers per hour, and can complete a round trip between two stockyards in 50 minutes," Gao Mingyue, general manager for AGV central control of E-commodities Holdings Limited (E-comm), told the Global Times over the weekend.

E-comm, the operator of the AGV transport system, has a total of 30 AGVs, and deploys 24 AGVs on weekdays.

The Mongolian side also has 30 AGVs, with an annual transport capacity estimated to be near 15 million tons if all 60 AGVs are in use.

The automatic transport system has boosted the efficiency of transport between China and Mongolia. "Each lorry can load with at most four standard containers and makes four to six round trips each month, and a single AGV loading with two standard containers can make six to seven round trips each day," Gao noted.

The AGV transport system has been applied across multiple Chinese land and sea ports for nearly two decades, but this is the first time it has been fully integrated into a land port, the Global Times learned, with the system also deployed at the border port of Ceke, another land port in the northern Chinese region bordering Mongolia.

Ganqmod Port is a major energy import channel for China and Mongolia with a focus on the coal trade, and also acts as an important hub for the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor.

As of Monday, the port had handled 31.73 million tons of cargo this year alone, up 119.16 percent year-on-year, becoming China's largest port for importing Mongolian coal and copper powder, data from the port administration showed.

To improve communications between the two sides, the port recently resumed two-way passenger traffic on Monday after more than three years of suspension during the pandemic, signifying that all land ports in the region have resumed cross-border passenger clearance.

According to local customs data, a total of 91 passengers passed through the clearing area on the first day of resumption. In 2019, the port facilitated 183,695 cross-border passengers from both sides.

Before the resumption of passenger clearance, Mongolian personnel had to enter China for business and wholesale purchases via Manzhouli or Erenhot Port, which are China's largest trade hubs with Russia and Mongolia respectively.

Border advantages

Situated in the north of China, bordering eight provinces in the country as well as Russia and Mongolia, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region has become a major bridgehead in the nation's push for opening up in the northern area.

Taking advantage of its significant port cities both on the highway and railway routes, the autonomous region is seeing more economic and trade connections with neighboring Mongolia and Russia, the two of which accounts for more than half of Inner Mongolia's import‑export trade as well as a considerable share of China's trade with both countries.

Taking Ganqmod Port as an example, it has grown robustly to a major connection hub for the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Mongolia's "Steppe Road Program" development strategy and the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor, Ulziikhutag Bayanmunkh, chairman of the Border Ports Administration, Mongolian Umnugobi Province, told the Global Times when visiting the port.

In the wake of the development of the BRI, foreign trade in Ceke Port, located at Ejin Banner, has set new records for trade activity this year, reaching 14.82 million tons, worth 9.78 billion yuan ($1.34 billion), the highest level since the port was opened 31 years ago, the Global Times learnt from local customs officials.

"A total of 16 channels for cross-border freight trucks have all been put into use this year, and the surging demand for merchandise from both Chinese and Mongolian markets lifted the port's trade volume," Hong Yan, general manager of Ceke-based Inner Mongolia Zhongce E-commerce Co, told the Global Times.

At present, over 90 percent of cross-border cargo via Ceke Port is coal. Hong's company is ramping up efforts to expand import cargo categories into wool, meat, and export China-produced rice, fruit, vegetable and light industrial products to Mongolia.

"The BRI has offered assistive and guidance policies for cross-border trade companies from the technology and commerce sectors, plus the clearance capacity might be further enhanced by Ejin Customs and related authorities. I believe China-Mongolia trade will reach new heights next year," Hong said.

China has remained Mongolia's largest trading partner for a number of years. Bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to $13 billion in the first three quarters of the year, accounting for 72.3 percent of Mongolia's total foreign trade, Mongolia's National Statistics Office said in a statement.

In terms of railway border links, progress has also been rapid.

Over the past decade, the traffic volume of China-Europe trains at the Manzhouli Railway Port have ramped up considerably. By August, the number of China-Europe freight trains that had entered and exited the port was 24,316, with 2.31 million containers moved, data from Belt and Road Portal showed.

Trains from across China arrive at Manzhouli, one of six railway ports that China-Europe freight trains pass through, before heading to Russia and other European countries, and trains from Europe that travel through Russia enter China at Manzhouli before heading to other Chinese cities.

The first China-Europe freight train left Manzhouli port in September 2013

The Ganqmod Port in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the largest highway port on the China-Mongolia border, resumed two-way passenger traffic on Monday.

To ensure normal passenger clearance at the port, measures including service optimization and the opening of multiple inspection channels have been taken, said the port administration.

In 2022, the port completed the customs clearance of over 19 million tonnes of goods, more than twice that of 2021.

Ganqmod Port is a major energy import channel for the country and an important hub in the China-Mongolia-Russia economic corridor.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)