link..encouraging....statements seems to contradict the headline. Dated 11/14
OYUN SEES NO NEED TO CHANGE “GOOD” MINERALS LAW
“We have lost our golden chance and now must make sure the silver or the bronze does not elude us,” sa
https://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/2085/154/
in part .....
Ms. S. Oyun, a mining professional and a former foreign minister, who is now a member of the MPs’ group entrusted with drafting amendments to the 2006 Minerals Law. Talking to media she recently said the law as it stands “is good” and she saw no reason to change it in any way.
Refusing to speculate what the group’s final recommendations would be, she said its members were seriously assessing the implications of the Government owning 51% of strategic deposits. They understand that the financial responsibility would be huge and could be difficult to fulfill. At current estimates, half the share of developing Oyu Tolgoi would be around USD2.5 billion, equivalent to the annual budget of Mongolia. They are not sure if the Government should dare take the risk, or if it should leave ownership and development costs to the private sector and just tax them on their profits. Considering that no business venture can guarantee regular high profits, she wondered if it also would be prudent to put the taxpayers’ money into such uncertainty.
In any case, she said, a government did not have to insist on majority shareholding to exercise control over a project. The terms of any investment agreement could give it sufficient leeway to monitor progress and enforce its wishes. Ms. Oyun was clear that the windfall profits tax is counterproductive and should be scrapped. It may bring some money in the short run, but it stifles long-term exploration and investment.
Calling product sharing “not the perfect alternative”, Ms. Oyun said every deposit has its own features and demands different methods of exploration and excavation. “It is sensible to make separate agreements for, say, Asgat and Tavan Tolgoi.”