VANCOUVER (miningweekly.com) – Canadian copper miner Turquoise Hill Resources has restarted shipments of copper concentrate from the Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold mine, in Mongolia, across the Chinese border.
The Vancouver-based Rio Tinto subsidiary on Wednesday said talks with Chinese and Mongolian authorities have resulted in a new joint coal and concentrate crossing route at the Chinese-Mongolian border.
Shipments were halted early this month following the imposition of new fees on commodity shipments as a result of a diplomatic row after Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader the Dalai Lama paid a visit to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital.
Turquoise Hill said Oyu Tolgoi expects shipments to return to presuspension levels over the coming weeks, based on completed trial shipments.
Production at Oyu Tolgoi was unaffected during the shipment suspension.
Rio Tinto operates the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold mine, which is 66% owned by its Turquoise Hill arm and 34% owned by the Mongolian government.