Mongolia Takes MiG-29s as Poland Resumes Operations

Mongolia has accepted a pair of MiG-29UB two-seat fighters donated by Russia under the orders of President Putin. The acceptance ceremony took place on November 26—the nation’s Independence Day—at the military base within the fence of the Chinggis Khaan International Airport that serves the capital city, Ulaan-Baatar.

Speaking at the event, the commander of the Mongolian air force, Brigadier General Enkhbayar, described it as the “opening of a new page for Mongolian aviation.” He added that the two aircraft, received free of charge, will improve the service’s combat efficiency, and enable it to fulfill the primary task of patrolling Mongolian airspace and keeping control of the nation’s borders. Addressing the personnel of 303 and 337 Squadrons, he called upon them to treat the two MiGs as “the symbols of our cooperation with Russia.”

Also speaking at the ceremony, Major General Zabit Khairbekov, deputy commander of the Russian Air and Space Force, noted that Mongolian aviation began operations in 1925 using three Russian-made Junkers F13 transports, which were supplemented six years later by combat aircraft from Soviet stocks. In 1970, the Mongolian air force entered the jet age with the formation of a MiG-17 squadron. In the 1977-1984 time frame, it mastered MiG-21PF supersonic interceptors. The latter remained operational until recently when their structural lifecycles expired.

One of two MiG-29UBs donated by Russia is seen during the November 26 handover ceremony. (photo: MPA/Mongolian state TV)

Numerous media reports from earlier this century suggested that Mongolia would take a handful of MiG-29 and/or Su-27 fighters, but this did not materialize. Left without Russian aid, the Mongolian air force inventory gradually reduced to a few Antonov An-24/26 tactical airlifters and a dozen airworthy Mi-24 and Mi-8 helicopters.

President Putin made the decision to resume military aid during his official visit to Ulaan-Baatar in September this year. The two sides signed a protocol on the resumption of an earlier agreement covering military-technical cooperation centered on free-of-charge shipments of military equipment from Russian army stocks. In addition to the MiGs, Moscow has donated a handful of the Pechora-2M medium-range SAM systems.

Russia’s defense ministry provided the following comment: “The ties between Russia and Mongolia have their roots in the long history of cooperation between the two nations. They feature the spirit of good neighborhood, carry a comprehensive character, and develop in the direction of strategic partnership. Regarding the military sphere, the Russian side has always taken an active part in building Mongolia’s armed forces, including providing the Mongolian air force with aviation equipment and training Mongolian personnel.”

In another development earlier this month, Poland made the decision to resume flying its MiG-29s, which have been grounded since March this year following two crashes. With 30 aircraft on strength, the type is the second most numerous tactical aircraft in the Polish air force inventory, after the F-16.

Source:www.ainonline.com

Read More

Interview: China contributes greatly to Mongolia's health sector: minister

ULAN BATOR, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China has been making great contributions to the development of Mongolia's health sector by supporting the construction of hospitals, donating advanced medical devices and providing training for medical staff, Mongolian Health Minister Davaajantsan Sarangerel told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"Mongolia and China are eternal neighbors. In recent years, our two countries have enjoyed good ties and cooperation in the health sector," she said.

China has built several public hospitals in Mongolia in recent years as donations, the minister said, noting that the hospitals have helped improving healthcare accessibility and affordability in the country.

A China-funded medical center for disabled children was officially put into operation in the Bayangol district of the capital city of Ulan Bator on May 31. It is equipped with 250 beds, and can provide treatment for up to 250 outpatients a day simultaneously.

The minister said the medical center, fully equipped with advanced equipment, is the first of its kind in Mongolia.

In addition, China has been assisting Mongolian medical personnel in improving their professional skills. A total of 80 medical workers have been trained in China so far this year, according to the minister.

2019 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Mongolia. The two sides have organized several events in the medical humanitarian area to mark the occasion, the minister said.

A project called "The Belt and Road-Brightness Trip", aimed at providing at least 1,000 Mongolians with free cataract surgery within the next five years, was launched in June, she said.

The minister expressed her gratitude toward strong support from China, saying that she is very happy that Mongolian citizens have been able to reap tangible benefits from China-funded humanitarian activities.

Considering its population growth and a growing prevalence of diseases, Mongolia has made plans to build several new hospitals, including an organ transplant center, a cancer treatment center and a national cardiovascular center, Sarangerel said, adding that Mongolia would like to cooperate with China in the building of these new facilities.

Read More

How Mongolia is trying to curb antibiotic overuse

By Jenny Lei Ravelo 

MANILA — As winter sets in Mongolia, the government anticipates a high incidence of flu — and the potential overuse of antibiotics.

As flu cases increase, many individuals are sparked to take unnecessary antibiotics, said Amarjargal Choijoo, senior officer at the Mongolia Ministry of Health division of pharmaceuticals and medical devices. Doctors might also prescribe antibiotics to patients with flu to help prevent a secondary bacterial infection, she said.

But the flu and the cold season are not the only culprits driving antibiotic overuse in the country.

“One of the key factors that contribute to the overuse of antibiotics in Mongolia is the disease pattern of the population,” Choijoo told Devex in an email.

While Mongolia has seen an increase in noncommunicable diseases, infectious diseases such as respiratory tract and genito-urinary tract infections remain among the leading causes of morbidity in the country. Sexually transmitted infections and tuberculosis, including multidrug-resistant TB, are also high. STIs accounted for 38.3% of new cases of communicable diseases in the country in 2018, according to Choijoo.

Antibiotic use in Mongolia was highest among the 65 countries and areas included in WHO’s surveillance report in 2018 — 64.4 defined daily dose per 1,000 population, although Choijoo said the data was old, based on 2015 figures. A more recent study in 2019 showed the daily dose consumption of antibiotics per 1000 population had decreased by 21.3%, to 50.7 in 2018, she said. She attributes this to the government’s nationwide “antibiotics only by prescription” campaign.

Even that lower number still ranks higher than Iran, which was second-highest on the WHO report ranking with 38.78 defined daily dose consumption of antibiotics per 1,000.

Mongolia has some policies, regulations and clinical guidelines for antibiotic use, but Choijoo said these are “fragmented and duplicated over a number of authorities,” resulting in weak enforcement, monitoring, and coordination.

For instance, antibiotics are being dispensed even without the required prescriptions — particularly in small private pharmacies located in rural areas, Choijoo said. There aren’t enough law enforcers to inspect and ensure policies and regulations are being implemented properly. In addition, patients often self-diagnose and self-medicate.

The country also lacks national guidelines on antibiotic use for infectious diseases and sometimes is inconsistent with its recommendations.

A 2013 study in Mongolia showed that in 84% of cases, inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions were given for community-acquired pneumonia. Mongolia prohibits injection prescriptions for non-hospitalized patients, but the study found they are still being used outside the hospital by adults and children. The study found that gentamicin, an antibiotic, is recommended for the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia among children, but the drug is only available in injection form.

The government is aware of the risks involved with antibiotic overuse and misuse, particularly antimicrobial resistance. Although data on resistance rates in Mongolia is still sparse, Choijoo said, there has been a rise in cases of multidrug-resistant TB and gonococcal infections.

Data from Mongolia’s National Center for Communicable Diseases in 2019 also showed an increase in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA infections in 2019, the majority of which came from medical wards, Choijoo said. These are infections caused by a type of bacteria that has become resistant to commonly used antibiotics, including amoxicillin and penicillin.

The government has received support from international partners to help address the issue. An Asian Development Bank-funded health sector project helped improved microbiology laboratory capacity in select tertiary and secondary hospitals. WHO’s regional and country offices have provided technical and financial support on government action plans, surveys, and training on antimicrobial stewardship.

Mongolia currently has a multisectoral action plan to 2020 to combat AMR, and this is being implemented with support from WHO, ADB, and the Food and Agricultural Organization.

The country’s health insurance general agency has also introduced an e-prescription system aimed at ensuring medicines are being dispensed only with a prescription, although there’s a law loophole: only medicines prescribed by primary health care doctors are reimbursable under the country’s health insurance law.

“It is being planned to extend this to secondary level outpatient care. Last year some pediatric medicines included in the reimbursement list, irrespective of doctors/health care level, were already reimbursed,’ Choijoo said.

But beyond stewardship programs, Choijoo said Mongolia needs more activities to raise awareness and knowledge about antibiotics use and antimicrobial resistance among public health care professionals and others. Coordination with other sectors, particularly the animal and agriculture sectors, are important.

“Mongolia is a large country with low human population density and a vast livestock population. This creates challenges for outreach to decentralized facilities as well as to the enforcement of prudent antibiotic use regulations in all sectors,” she said.

In its report to the WHO’s Global Database for Antimicrobial Resistance for 2018-2019, Mongolia said it has “no national plan or system for monitoring sales/use of antimicrobials in animals,” and “no national plan or system for monitoring use of pesticides used for the purpose of controlling bacteria or fungal diseases.”

Source:www.devex.com

Read More

Mongolia seeks better Oyu Tolgoi deal from Rio Tinto

The pressure on Rio Tinto to give further ground on its troubled Oyu Tolgoi copper mine intensified after the Mongolian Parliament agreed to seek "comprehensive measures" to improve the terms of the Asian nation's involvement in the project.

Reports from Mongolia suggest Thursday's unanimous parliamentary resolution compels the government to take action to improve Mongolia's bargain under the investment agreements that underpin the mine.

Legal agreements struck in 2009 and 2015 underpin Rio Tinto's involvement in Oyu Tolgoi, which is currently the focus of an underground expansion that will cost more than $US6 billion ($8.8 billion).

It is believed the resolution will now be considered by Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga, who belongs to a political party that is currently a minority in the Mongolian parliament.

While Rio has long called for the 2009 and 2015 agreements to be honoured, Thursday's parliamentary resolution might not be totally unwelcome at Rio headquarters, given it presents as long-awaited progress on Mongolia's request for a better share of Oyu Tolgoi's wealth.

A working party of the Mongolian Parliament has been studying changes to the Oyu Tolgoi deal for almost two years and made multiple delays in publishing its findings. The protracted process has left Rio in the dark and prolonged investor concerns about sovereign risk in the developing nation.

Rio said in January 2018 that it was willing to explore ways to improve Mongolia's deal through "win-win solutions'', particularly around funding costs for the mine expansion.

A reduction of the interest rates on loans made by Rio controlled subsidiaries to the Mongolian government looms as one of the most likely aspects of any peace deal.

Under the terms of a 2015 agreement that enabled Rio to push ahead with the underground expansion, the government can decline to fund its 34 per cent share of construction costs, with Rio or its lenders having to pick up those contributions under a loan agreement where interest rates charged to Mongolia must not be more than 6.5 per cent above the London interbank rate.

Rio also charges its Oyu Tolgoi partners fees for certain services, including a "project finance guarantee charge" for handling the billions of capital for the mine expansion.

Rio responded cautiously to the parliamentary resolution.

“Rio Tinto notes that the Mongolian Parliament today voted to support a resolution related to Oyu Tolgoi and the findings of the parliamentary working group,'' the company said in a statement.

''We understand that the resolution, which has not yet been officially published, will be finalised according to Mongolian parliamentary process. Once the resolution is approved and published, we will provide a further update.”

The resolution comes just days after an administrative court in Mongolia upheld claims by a non-government organisation that due process was not followed in the striking of the 2015 underground agreement.

Source: www.afr.com

Read More

Rio Tinto faces having to renegotiate terms of Mongolian copper project

By Anand Dairtan

ULAANBAATAR (Reuters) - Rio Tinto faces renegotiating the terms of an agreement underpinning its Mongolian copper mine project, after lawmakers on Thursday approved plans to revise the deal to make it more beneficial for Mongolia.

The Oyu Tolgoi mine, Mongolia’s biggest foreign investment project, has already been subject to delays and ballooning costs, leaving Mongolian lawmakers impatient for income, while Rio Tinto says it has invested billions.

Rio Tinto-owned Turquoise Hill Resources has a 66% stake in the multi-billion-dollar project and the Mongolian state owns 34%, with investment terms agreed in 2015 in a deal known as the Dubai Agreement.

Rio Tinto said in an email that it understood that the Mongolian parliament’s vote on Thursday to revise the deal needed to be finalised and it would provide a further update once that happened.

Thursday’s vote was the culmination of a two-year process after a working group was set up to establish the benefits of the Dubai Agreement and submitted its report to parliament.

“For now, the Oyu Tolgoi agreement is not benefiting Mongolian citizens,” Battumur Baagaa, a member of the Mongolian parliamentary working group, said when he first presented the report in July.

“It is good to attract foreign investment but that doesn’t mean foreign investment should only benefit the foreign side.”

In July, Rio Tinto announced a cost overrun of up to $1.9 billion, saying total capital expenditure was expected to be in a range of $6.5 billion-$7.2 billion, and it expected a delay of up to 30 months at the Oyu Tolgoi underground extension.

The recommendations approved by parliament include replacing the 34% interest with a special royalty and bringing forward the date - currently set at 2041 - when Mongolia begins receiving dividends.

The working group argued the Dubai agreement was never ratified by parliament and was not legally binding.

On Monday, Mongolia’s Administrative Court ruled that former prime minister Chimed Saikhanbileg had violated the law when he signed the Dubai Agreement. A non-governmental organization named Darkhan Mongol Nogoo Negdel had asked the court to check the legality of Saikhanbileg’s approval of the agreement.

Turquoise Hill, which is 51%-owned by Rio Tinto, also said it would provide a further update once the parliamentary resolution was finalised.

Rio’s difficulties in Mongolia have held back its share price, analysts say. Rio shares fell 1.2% on Thursday. They have gained around 11% this year, but Turquoise Hill shares have shed around 74% this year.

Read More

Rio Tinto Updates On Court Proceedings In Mongolia; Court Upheld Claims By NGO

(RTTNews) - Rio Tinto plc (RTPPF.PK, RIO.L, RIO, RTNTF.PK) said an Administrative Court in Mongolia, with regard to a lawsuit initiated by a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) relating to the Government of Mongolia's process in finalising the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan or UDP, ruled that due process was not followed by the Government of Mongolia in finalising the UDP.

Rio Tinto said it strongly refutes any suggestion that the UDP or any of the foundational OT Agreements are illegal.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

Read More

Turquoise Hill notes Administrative Court proceedings in Mongolia

MONTREAL , Nov. 19, 2019 /CNW/ - Turquoise Hill Resources (TRQ) today notes Administrative Court proceedings in Mongolia with regard to a lawsuit initiated by the Darkhan Mongol Nogoon Negdel Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) relating to the Government of Mongolia's process in finalising the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan (UDP).

Early reports suggest the Administrative Court of first instance has upheld claims by the NGO that due process was not followed by the Government of Mongolia in finalising the UDP, although the Court's formal written ruling is expected to be released only in the coming weeks.

TRQ strongly refutes any suggestion that the UDP or any of the foundational OT Agreements are illegal. Adherence to the principles of the Investment Agreement, ARSHA and the Underground Plan has allowed for the development of the Oyu Tolgoi mine in a manner that has given rise to significant long-term benefits to the people of Mongolia .

We will update the market as further information becomes available.

Source:Turquoise Hill

Read More

3,682 new cases of syphilis recorded in Mongolia since June

ULAN BATOR, Nov. 19 (Xinhua) -- A total of 3,600 new cases of syphilis have been recorded in four months across Mongolia since the country declared war against the sexually transmitted disease (STD) in June, Mongolian Vice Health Minister Lamjav Byambasuren said Tuesday.

There were over 13,685 cases of sexually transmitted infections reported in Mongolia in the first ten months of this year, of which 40.3 percent were syphilis, Byambasuren told a press conference.

"Within the framework of the national campaign against syphilis, we have organized many related activities, including tests for STDs and trainings on raising public awareness about these types of diseases," Byambasuren said.

"We will further intensify the prevention, diagnosis and treatment for syphilis," she said, adding that the national campaign will last until July 2021.

Read More

Mongolian coal giant Tavan Tolgoi plans to sell US$1 billion of shares in Hong Kong, vindicating city’s push to attract foreign IPOs

• Tavan Tolgoi has hired an adviser to oversee preparations for the share sale, including the underwriter selection process, according to people familiar with the matter
• The company has been interviewing banks seeking a role on the IPO, targeted for 2020

Mongolian state-owned coal miner Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi JSC is ramping up work on a planned Hong Kong initial public offering (IPO) that could raise more than US$1 billion, people familiar with the matter said.

The coal miner has hired an adviser to oversee preparations for the share sale, including the underwriter selection process, said the people, who asked not to be identified as the information is private. The company has been interviewing banks seeking a role on the IPO and targets a listing as soon as next year, the people said.

A successful share sale would mark at least the third effort to raise money to develop the Tavan Tolgoi mine after international partnerships failed in 2011 and 2015. Mongolian lawmakers in 2018 approved a plan to sell up to 30 per cent of Tavan Tolgoi mine.

IPOs in Hong Kong have raised US$20.4 billion this year, down from US$32.7 billion during the same period in 2018, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A successful listing of Tavan Tolgoi would represent a victory for the Hong Kong bourse 

after years of seeking to lure

 big foreign mining companies to list in the city.

Deliberations on the share sale are at an early stage and details including size and timing may change, the people said. Representatives for Mongolia’s Ministry of Mining and Tavan Tolgoi didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Tavan Tolgoi, which means “five hills,” refers to the original location of the coal ore, according to its website. Tavan Tolgoi coal mine, located in the Gobi desert, is the largest coal ore deposit in Mongolia. Its deposit is estimated at a total of over 6 billion metric tonnes of coal, and more than one-third of which is high-grade hard coking coal, the website said.

Mongolia has been hopeful of a share sale of Tavan Tolgoi since the country started exporting coal to China in 2011.

A US$3 billion international share sale plan for 2012 didn’t materialise after Ulan Bator changed its plans for investment in the coal mine. An attempt to shore up $4 billion investment from a consortium including China Shenhua Energy and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. fell through in 2015 after the parliament stepped in saying it needed to review terms of the deal.

Source:Bloomberg news

Read More

Rio's ignorance is no excuse

The time has come for Rio to replace its geopolitical telescope with a much bigger lens.

Matthew StevensColumnist of  Australian Financial Review (www.afr.com)

It beggars belief that Rio Tinto knows nothing of substance about an apparently successful Mongolian legal challenge to the government process that sealed the deal on the global miner’s fractured underground expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi copper project.

Oyu Tolgoi is a development critical to the standing of both Rio Tinto and its successful but idiosyncratic chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques.

Oyu Tolgoi is a very large brownfields expansion whose projected cost recently blew out by $US1.9 billion to something more than $US7 billion because of a redesign forced by geotechnical misunderstandings.

And it is a project’s whose 2015 gateway investment agreement  was the product of sustained and direct personal contact between Jacques and the prime minister-elect of Mongolia, Chimediin Saikhanbileg.

As Jacques revealed in a remarkably frank interview with our very own Chanticleer columnist Tony Boyd in May 2015, the bones of what became the Dubai agreement were assembled over five days of meetings with Saikhanbileg over the Rio man’s kitchen table in Holland Park, London.

Jacques was the head of Rio’s copper and coal business when the deal was done and the work he did in breaking a two-year deadlock over Mongolia’s determination to use the leverage of the expansion to redraft the terms of the original 2009 investment agreement certainly played a role in his surprise appointment to succeed Sam Walsh as CEO in March 2016.

On Wednesday, in a statement released through stock exchange platforms here and in London by Rio and in Toronto by the Canadian listing whose control delivers the Anglo Australian ownership of Oyu Tolgoi, the miner revealed that a court in Mongolia appeared to have found that Saikhanbileg’s government had failed the test of due process in signing off on the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan (UDP).

Saikhanbileg is one of two former prime ministers who were arrested last year by Mongolia’s anti-corruption authority as part of an investigation into both of the core Oyu Tolgoi investment agreements.

The state of ignorance

It is worth reading the introduction to the Rio statement released to the ASX  because it implies an arguably unacceptable ignorance of events in Mongolia that are of patently potential significance.

“Rio Tinto today notes Administrative Court proceedings in Mongolia with regard to a lawsuit initiated by the Darkhan Mongol Nogoon Negdel Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) relating to the government of Mongolia’s process in finalising the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan (UDP),” the company said.

“Early reports suggest the Administrative Court of first instance has upheld claims by the NGO that due process was not followed by the government of Mongolia in finalising the UDP, although the court’s formal written ruling is expected to be released only in the coming weeks.''

So, as it turns out, the potential of a decision negative for the plaintiff government and, by extension, for Rio's expensively-wrought  interests, arrived as a surprise no bigger than the fact of the case itself.

Not only was there no Rio representative at the Administrative Court hearing but Rio people don’t seem to have any level of understanding of the nature of the case or the import of any decision. And that is largely because, until Tuesday, the company was blissfully unaware that a challenge had been made, that a case had been heard or that a decision may have been foreshadowed.

Rio’s statement went on to “strongly” reject  the idea that the 2015 agreement or any other of Oyu Tolgoi’s cornerstone investment protocols are in any way illegal. But that assertion, too, is disturbing because it lands without any certainty that the court has recognised illegality in any of the failings of due process that “early reports” suggest have been called out.

While this thorough state of ignorance is unusual, the potential for the news flow from Mongolia to catch Rio on the hop is not.

Through the turmoil of recent years, which includes a roll call of attempted redrafts of the investment agreements that is firmly linked to the fledgling democracy’s excessively short electoral cycle and volatile politics, Rio has increasingly asked to be excused for the knowledge gaps.

The narrative is that Mongolia is a young and unpredictable nation that continues to struggle to find a balance between the short-term need to harvest its only major resource project and the long-term need to invite foreign investment to ensure there  are more Oyu Tolgoi’s in the future.

Oyu Tolgoi is Rio’s single biggest risk. However you cut it, the project sits at least a couple of management generations away from turning a profit. It is a project intimately linked to the current CEO’s reputation, and the underground expansion’s stuttering progress -  along with the theatre of political contests around its social licence - demand all the attention that a world class miner like Rio can throw at it.

But for all of Rio’s long-embedded strengths, stakeholder and risk mapping, management’s lens on Mongolia seems more underpowered telescope than the huge magnifying glass this turbulent investment now routinely demands.

Source:https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/rio-s-ignorance-is-no-excuse-20191120-p53cgx?fbclid=IwAR0m95TJpO0W9seqr-4i7JeU7m-OXsQ-M-2Uo2xIz0otIOBugLIoZc9gVBs

Read More

China's Inner Mongolia reports fresh bubonic plague case

A man that ate wild rabbit meat in the autonomous region of Inner Mongolia has been diagnosed with bubonic plague. Health officials say 28 people who had close contact with the patient have been quarantined.

China’s Inner Mongolia reported a fresh, confirmed case of bubonic plague on Sunday, despite an earlier declaration by the country’s health officials that the risk of an outbreak was minimal. 

The health commission of the autonomous region said a 55-year-old man was diagnosed with the disease after he ate wild rabbit meat on November 5. 

Bubonic plague is the most common form of plague globally and can advance and spread to the lungs, which is a more severe type called pneumonic plague, according to the World Health Organization. 

The Inner Mongolia case follows two more confirmed earlier this month in Beijing. In both cases, the two patients from Inner Mongolia were quarantined at a facility in the capital after being diagnosed with pneumonic plague, health authorities said at the time. 

The Inner Mongolia health commission said it found no evidence so far to link the most recent case to the earlier two cases in Beijing. 

The patient in Inner Mongolia is now isolated and treated at a hospital in Ulanqab, the health commission said. 

A total of 28 people who had close contact with the patient are now isolated and under observation. The health commission said they found no abnormal symptoms found in them.

Outbreaks in China have been rare, but large parts of the northwestern city of Yumen were sealed off in 2014 after a 38-year-old resident died of bubonic plague, known as “Black Death” in the Middle Ages and caused by the same bacterium as the pneumonic variant. 

Rodent populations have risen in Inner Mongolia after persistent droughts, worsened by climate change. 

An area the size of the Netherlands was hit by a “rat plague” last summer, causing damages of $86 million, Xinhua said.

Read More

Russia to hand over two MiG-29 fighter jets to Mongolia on its Independence Day Nov. 26

BEIJING, November 18. /TASS/. Russia will hand over two MiG-29 fighter jets to the Mongolian army, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Mongolia told TASS on Monday.

According to the spokesman, the ceremony will be held on November 26, Mongolia’s Independence Day.

"As of now, Mongolia has no military aviation but for helicopters. Now it will have two MiG-29 jets," he said, adding that the General Staff of the Mongolian Armed Forces had already confirmed the date of the official handover ceremony.

Read More

Kincora Announces Agreement For New Priority Drilling Porphyry Project

Company announcement

Kincora Announces Agreement For New Priority Drilling Porphyry Project

Option and earn-in agreement for the Badrakh project in the Southern Gobi, Mongolia Two drill holes proposed this field season testing the potential for a preserved porphyry underlying a supergene cap Badrakh is a former high priority reconnaissance exploration project of Ivanhoe Mines Mongolia Inc. LLC (“IMMI”) Mr. Munkhbat Ania, former Senior Vice President of IMMI and Oyu Tolgoi LLC, to remain an Advisor to the Badrakh project Agreement is consistent with existing project generation and exploration strategy supporting Kincora being the most active listed junior seeking to make the next major discovery in Mongolia Vancouver, BC — November 11th, 2019 Kincora Copper Ltd. (the “Company”, “Kincora”) (TSXV:KCC) is pleased have entered a agreement with Temuulen Orshih LLC (the “Vendor”), which owns 100% of the Badrakh copper-gold porphyry project (“Badrakh” or the “Project”). Field geological mapping, soil and rock chip sampling, ground magnetics and induced polarization (“IP”) has been undertaken, which underpinned a maiden shallow two hole drilling program this field season by the Vendor. This drilling intercepted a leached supergene cap hosted within an intrusion that displays phyllic and propylitic alteration, with chalcocite and chalcopyrite mineralisation. Subject to final due diligence and permitting, and post reinterpretation of previous exploration results, further mapping and geophysical interpretation, Kincora proposes to complete two deeper holes this field season that will for the first time test the potential for a preserved and large scale copper-gold porphyry system, as well as for a nearer surface supergene cap. Sam Spring, President and CEO, commented: “The agreement for Badrakh provides a path to control alongside a well credentialed vendor and partner, for a priority drill ready project underpinned by large scale porphyry targets which are favourably located to existing infrastructure and on the doorstep to China. Funds from Kincora’s project generation budget support drilling expected to shortly commence at Badrakh, following first phase activities concluding at our East Tsagaan Suvarga project. The agreement is inline with the Company’s project generation strategy, leveraging our strong technical teams experience, systematic exploration approach and being the foremost listed group pursuing further counter-cyclical expansion opportunities in Mongolia. An update for exploration activities at the Company’s existing Bronze Fox and East Tsagaan Suvarga projects is expected shortly.” Further highlighted details Epstein Research Senior Exploration Vice President interview with Peter Leaman: Click Here (23rd September, 2019) Updated Company Presentation: Click Here (23rd September, 2019) Updated Fact Sheet: Click Here (23rd September, 2019) Updated August 2019 “Introduction to Mongolia” presentation: Click Here        Upcoming events and marketing trips In November Kincora Copper will be marketing:        18 November in Hong Kong 19-21 November in London, including 121 Mining Investment: Click Here About Kincora Kincora is a junior resource company engaged in the acquisition, exploration and development of mineral properties, with a focus on copper-gold projects in Mongolia. For further information: www.kincoracopper.com.

Read More