TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Mongolia's national Parliament voted on Thursday to advance approval discussions on the investment agreement for Ivanhoe Mines' Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold project, in the country's South Gobi region.

The vote to proceed with consideration of the draft agreement was supported by 75% of the Members of Parliament present and followed six hours of discussion, during which the agreement was formally introduced by the standing committee on economics, Ivanhoe CEO John Macken said in a statement.

The standing committee announced that it had voted 13 to1 in favour of authorising the government to sign the agreement.

Under Mongolian law, the agreement, which has also been approved by the caucuses for the two major parties in Mongolia's coalition government, now will be presented for its first official reading.

The document, the culmination of almost five years of discussions and negotiations, and nine years of exploration and development by Ivanhoe Mines, establishes a legal framework for the construction and operation of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mining complex and stabilises certain taxes and fees in relation to the project.

Rio Tinto owns 10% of Ivanhoe but can increase its holding to more than 40% by providing funding for the development of the mine.

Mining Weekly Online understands that the draft document proposes to give the Mongolian government a 34% interest in the mine, and does not include a windfall profit tax.

Ivanhoe has said that it expects construction of the mine to take 30 months, once the investment agreement has received final approval.

According to a 2005 study, the Oyu Tolgoi mine could produce more than one-billion pounds of copper and 330 000 oz of gold a year for at least 35 years.

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