SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (1878), controlled by a unit of Rio Tinto Group, said its chief lawyer Sarah Armstrong has been cleared in a probe by the Mongolian Independent Authority Against Corruption and is free to leave the country after being prevented to do so since October.

The coal mining company, based in Vancouver, continues to be under investigation for “the divestment of certain SouthGobi licenses to third parties, and the involvement and conduct of government officials in connection with this,” according to a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange today.

SouthGobi fell 1.6 percent to HK$15.58 at the early Christmas-eve close in Hong Kong.
Armstrong is the company’s chief legal counsel.