At a remote outpost in the Gobi Desert, hundreds of kilometers from any paved road, Keith Marshall is poring over satellite images, geological surveys and sheets of statistics, literally mapping out Mongolia’s economic future.
Working out of a wind-lashed military-style tent dubbed the “Weather Haven,” the British engineer is laying the groundwork for what he says will be one of the biggest copper mines in the world.
Oyu Tolgoi, or Turquoise Hill, will have the capacity to churn out a million tonnes of copper each year, as well as gold, a potentially big boost to this impoverished country’s economy, which still relies heavily on Soviet-era infrastructure and donor aid money.
Sandwiched between Russia and China, Mongolia has a population of just 2.7 million people spread over an area more than double the size of France. The average salary is just US$200 a month.
“Oyu Tolgoi is going to bring dividends to the Mongolian people for four or five generations to come,” said Marshall, managing director of Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia, the Canadian company that owns the exploration license for the site.
The copper concentrate will be shipped to China and eventually find its way into cellphones, laptops and cars around the world.
But Oyu Tolgoi has been the subject of much controversy and has yet to win government approval, with the issue stirring debate from nomad camps in the Gobi to the streets of Ulan Bator and the halls of parliament.
A final contract between the government and Ivanhoe has been held up by angry street protests, as citizens have demanded a greater percentage of the profits.
In a compromise, Ivanhoe agreed to give the government a 34 percent stake in the project, which Marshall estimates will require between US$6 billion and US$10 billion of investment to make fully operational.
The government has since indicated it wants a 51 percent share.
“No one in Mongolia has the experience to handle such a huge mine,” said Sainkhuugiin Ganbaatar, president of the Mongolian Trade Union and onetime leader of the street protests. “So we must not rush into a deal with a foreign mining company until we fully understand what is at stake.”
Ganbaatar, regarded as a non-partisan voice, is demanding a full appraisal of the mine from an independent body.
The mining company is growing increasingly restless, but investor confidence remains strong. Rio Tinto recently bought a 9.9 percent stake in Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.
In the meantime, 500 workers keep the project going. The mine is expected to employ 5,000 people, with thousands more coming to fill out of the supply chain expected to grow around the mine.
MISINFORMATION: The generated content tends to adopt China’s official stance, such as ‘Taiwan is currently governed by the Chinese central government,’ the NSB said Five China-developed artificial intelligence (AI) language models exhibit cybersecurity risks and content biases, an inspection conducted by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The five AI tools are: DeepSeek, Doubao (豆包), Yiyan (文心一言), Tongyi (通義千問) and Yuanbao (騰訊元寶), the bureau said, advising people to remain vigilant to protect personal data privacy and corporate business secrets. The NSB said it, in accordance with the National Intelligence Services Act (國家情報工作法), has reviewed international cybersecurity reports and intelligence, and coordinated with the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau and the National Police Agency’s Criminal Investigation Bureau to conduct an inspection of China-made AI language
LIMITS: While China increases military pressure on Taiwan and expands its use of cognitive warfare, it is unwilling to target tech supply chains, the report said US and Taiwan military officials have warned that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) could implement a blockade within “a matter of hours” and need only “minimal conversion time” prior to an attack on Taiwan, a report released on Tuesday by the US Senate’s China Economic and Security Review Commission said. “While there is no indication that China is planning an imminent attack, the United States and its allies and partners can no longer assume that a Taiwan contingency is a distant possibility for which they would have ample time to prepare,” it said. The commission made the comments in its annual
CHECKING BOUNDARIES: China wants to disrupt solidarity among democracies and test their red lines, but it is instead pushing nations to become more united, an expert said The US Department of State on Friday expressed deep concern over a Chinese public security agency’s investigation into Legislator Puma Shen (沈伯洋) for “secession.” “China’s actions threaten free speech and erode norms that have underpinned the cross-strait ‘status quo’ for decades,” a US Department of State spokesperson said. The Chongqing Municipal Public Security Bureau late last month listed Shen as “wanted” and launched an investigation into alleged “secession-related” criminal activities, including his founding of the Kuma Academy, a civil defense organization that prepares people for an invasion by China. The spokesperson said that the US was “deeply concerned” about the bureau investigating Shen
‘TROUBLEMAKER’: Most countries believe that it is China — rather than Taiwan — that is undermining regional peace and stability with its coercive tactics, the president said China should restrain itself and refrain from being a troublemaker that sabotages peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. Lai made the remarks after China Coast Guard vessels sailed into disputed waters off the Senkaku Islands — known as the Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台) in Taiwan — following a remark Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made regarding Taiwan. Takaichi during a parliamentary session on Nov. 7 said that a “Taiwan contingency” involving a Chinese naval blockade could qualify as a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, and trigger Tokyo’s deployment of its military for defense. Asked about the escalating tensions
RSS