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Mongolia PULLS ENTREE PERMIT

[twintomatoes]

Mongolia Pulls Entree Gold Permit Near Oyu Tolgoi Saying Invalid

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-26/mongolia-pulls-entree-gold-permit-near-oyu-tolgoi-saying-invalid.html

 

Mongolia’s mining ministry said it canceled two licenses held by Canada’s Entree Gold Inc. (ETG) on land that forms part of the Oyu Tolgoi deposit, the nation’s biggest copper and gold project.

Mongolia President Tsakhia Elbegdorj this month requested Rio Tinto Group, its partner in Oyu Tolgoi, to transfer all licenses connected to the mine to the venture between the government and Rio, the world’s second-largest mining company. That included Entree Gold, which is 23.6 percent owned by Rio.

Entree Gold in 2009 upgraded its exploration permits to mining licenses, the ministry said today in a statement on its website. The award of a mining license by law can only be done by the Mineral Resource Authority, not the mining ministry, and is therefore invalid, according to the statement.

“The current mining minister has annulled the 2009 resolution and transferred the matter to the Mineral Resource Authority,” according to the statement. Should Entree Gold mine the area, Mongolia will lose its share of profits from Oyu Tolgoi, according to the document.

An Entree Gold official in Mongolia’s capital Ulan Bator said he couldn’t comment as he didn’t have authority to speak with the media. Mona Forester, Entree’s vice president based in Vancouver, could not be immediately reached outside regular business hours.

Rio controls 64 percent of the Oyu Tolgoi venture and Mongolia’s government the rest. The mine, also the subject of disputes between the two partners, is the world’s biggest under construction for copper and gold and is set to start production in June. When fully operating it will account for 30 percent of Mongolia’s gross domestic product.