Reuters reports that SouthGobi Resources Ltd’s revenue plummeted to $53 million from $179 million the year prior.
Chinese company Chalco made a failed bid to purchase the company for $926 million in late 2012 as it met fierce opposition from Mongolian lawmakers. British-Australian multinational Rio Tinto currently is the majority owner.
In April, the Mongolian government suspended the company’s “exploration and mining licenses,” but SouthGobi Resources Ltd stressed late last week that its most important mine, Ovoot Tolgoi, will begin operations again for the first time since the middle of the past year. The company expects to mine 3.2 million tons of semi-soft coking coal in the present year in spite of supplying almost all of its coking coal to the Chinese steel market, which over the past year has not fared well.
(Edited from Reuters)