Oyu Tolgoi

MiningNo. 1 in Mongolia

Mongolia

Founded

n/a

Headquarters

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

Ticker

n/a

Sector

Mining

Stock performance

This company has no listed ticker in our data, so there is no price chart.

History

Oyu Tolgoi ('Turquoise Hill') is a giant copper-gold deposit in the Gobi Desert that Canadian company Ivanhoe Mines discovered in 2001. After a 2009 investment agreement, Rio Tinto took over development, with the Mongolian government owning 34%, and open-pit production began in 2013; the much larger underground mine started production in 2023 after years of delays, cost overruns, and disputes with the government.

Business model

Oyu Tolgoi mines copper and gold ore and processes it into concentrate that is trucked across the border to smelters in China. Rio Tinto, which owns 66%, manages the operation.

Market position

Oyu Tolgoi is one of the largest copper mines in the world and is expected to become one of the top producers globally as its underground block-cave mine ramps up.

Country impact

Oyu Tolgoi is Mongolia's largest foreign investment and one of its biggest sources of exports and tax revenue. The project has been at the heart of debates over resource nationalism and how a small economy should share in the wealth of a world-class deposit.