Ya. Batsuuri, CEO of state-owned Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, has said
three mining companies have agreed to export 1 billion tons of coal to
China’s Shenhua Group Corp. in the next 20 years. The total value of
the exports at current prices would be about $50 billion. The memorandum
of understanding signed between Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi, Mongolian Mining
Corporation, and Tavan Tolgoi JSC and Shenhua would ensure a long-term
buyer for the companies operating in the Tavan Tolgoi basin, which
contains 6.4 billion tons of coal reserves. Any of the exported coal, if
it is not wanted by Shenhua -- itself China’s gest coal producer --
can be sold on the international market.
In a separate MoU with
the three companies and the state-owned railway company, Shenhua agreed
to build a freight line to carry the coal to the Chinese border.