Turquoise Hill Resources said construction of power transmission lines for its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia has been completed and it was confident of receiving electricity from China.

Oyu Tolgoi, located 80 km (50 miles) north of Mongolia”s Chinese border, is expected to become one of the world”s three largest copper and gold mines when it reaches full production in 2018.

Turquoise Hill, which is controlled by global mining giant Rio Tinto , has a 66 percent stake in the project.

Turquoise Hill, earlier known as Ivanhoe Mines, said it is in talks with Chinese authorities on a power purchase agreement for the project.

First ore is expected to be processed within six weeks of signing the final power agreement, said the company.

The company reiterated that underground production at Oyu Tolgoi is expected to start in 2016. It plans to secure $3 billion to $4 billion to finance the project.