Rio Tinto faces major engineering change at Oyu Tolgoi

Rio Tinto (LON: RIO) (ASX: RIO) has actually authorized a change in below ground growth at its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, stopping briefly progression in the Meal Resources (TSX: ETG) joint endeavor location because of continuous hold-ups in certificate transfers.

The firm claimed the increase of manufacturing from Oyu Tolgoi stays on course to supply approximately around 500,000 tonnes of copper from 2028 to 2036, with choices consisting of bringing Panel 1 or Panel 2 South right into manufacturing initially relying on the timing of the Meal permit transfers.

” With side growth job only simply starting in Panel 1, this is the correct time to pivot and advance growth in Panel 2 South to keep our choices,” Katie Jackson, president of Rio Tinto Copper, claimed in a declaration.

While restricted growth will certainly proceed partially of Panel 1 outside the JV limit, Rio Tinto validated that sources will certainly currently be reapportioned to quicken progression in the much more easily accessible Panel 2 South.

The growth freeze in the Meal JV location originates from a hold-up in moving permits to Oyu Tolgoi LLC (OTLLC), the operating entity collectively possessed by Rio Tinto (66%) and the Mongolian federal government (34%).

Meal shared dissatisfaction over the trouble. Chief executive officer Stephen Scott kept in mind that the transfer procedure started in February 2025 yet stays insufficient.

” The celebrations have actually constantly planned for OTLLC to hold title to the Shivee Tolgoi and Javkhlant mining licenses in behalf of the JV individuals,” Scott claimed. “It is a demand of the 2008 JV contract and pondered in the 2009 Oyu Tolgoi financial investment contract.”

He warned that any type of substantial hold-up in growth at Lift 1 Panel 1 might negatively affect the job’s price, routine, and Meal’s monetary placement and share rate.

As one of the globe’s biggest understood copper-gold sources, Oyu Tolgoi plays a crucial function in Rio Tinto’s development method and Mongolia’s financial growth.

Open up pit mining at Oyu Tolgoi initially began in 2011, and the copper concentrator, the biggest commercial complicated ever before constructed in Mongolia, started refining extracted ore right into copper concentrate in 2013. In 2015, underground production also kicked off, which is anticipated to boost Oyu Tolgoi right into among the globe’s leading copper manufacturers by 2030.

Regardless of the modified method, Rio Tinto declared its 2025 copper manufacturing assistance of 780,000 to 850,000 tonnes.

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