Oyu Tolgoi underground production to start in 2022
PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Diversified major Rio Tinto on Wednesday unveiled that underground production from the Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold mine, in Mongolia, is expected to start in October 2022.
Development cost for the underground operation has been set at $6.75-billion, the company said.
“We now have a pathway to bring the underground project into production, which will unlock the most valuable part of Oyu Tolgoi. We will continue to work together with the government of Mongolia and Turquoise Hill Resources to progress the project, including finalising all necessary approvals and agreeing a solution on power and funding,” said Rio’s copper and diamond CEO Arnaud Soirat.
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce 480 000 t/y of copper on average from 2028 to 2036 from the openpit and underground, compared with 146 300 t/y in 2019 from the openpit.
The underground ore reserve has an average copper grade of 1.52%, which is more than three times higher than the openpit ore reserve, and contains 0.31 g/t of gold. The size and quality of this Tier 1 asset provides additional expansion options, which could see production sustained for many decades.
At peak production, Oyu Tolgoi is expected to operate in the first quartile of the copper cash cost curve and by 2030 is expected to be the fourth largest copper mine in the world.
Rio and its partners will continue to finalise three other milestones; the outstanding government approvals, funding and a power solution, in order to ensure that the project can commence caving operations in 2021.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Sulzer South Africa, established in 1922, partners with critical industries like power, oil & gas, water, mining, and chemicals to boost...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Leading condition monitoring specialists, WearCheck, help boost machinery lifespan and reduce catastrophic component failure through the scientific...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
