Turquoise Hill Resources said that Oyu Tolgoi, a copper and gold mine in the southern Gobi Desert, has declared force majeure in connection with customer contracts for concentrate due to a protest by Chinese coal transporters in the Ganqimaodu Border Zone.
Protesters used vehicles to obstruct the main access road in China leading to the Chinese-Mongolian border, resulting in Oyu Tolgoi convoys being unable to deliver concentrates to customers, the Vancouver-based company said.
The force majeure is not expected to have any impact on production, the company said on Wednesday.
Anglo Australian miner Rio Tinto has a 66% shareholding in Oyu Tolgoi.
Rio holds the stake indirectly through a majority ownership of Turquoise Hill Resources. The Mongolian government owns the remaining 34%.