A shareholders meeting of Oyutolgoi LLC has been announced today as scheduled.

Where and when the meeting would start was still unclear this morning as before.

A working group lead by Minister of Mining D.Gankhuyag acts as representative of Mongolian Government, that is a shareholder,  at the meeting of Oyutolgoi.

The Mongolian Government and investors of Oyutolgoi project, the largest copper deposit in Mongolia sat down at the negotiation table on February 6 due to pressing issues over cost increases in the project, conflict of interests between the Government and the advisory company and feasibility implementation failure. But shareholders did not reach a solution during the two day negotiation so they postponed the meeting until later in February.

Mongolians have opposed Oyutolgoi Investment Agreement, with Mongolian Government owing 34 percent since it was first signed in 2009 after a six year negotiation. Minister of Mining D.Gankhuyag affirmed his position last August for Mongolia to take a 50% stake in Oyutolgoi after retaking initial investment, according to his interpretation of 57th resolution of Parliament that authorized the government to conclude the Oyutolgoi Investment Agreement. The agreement in its current form provides for a 50 per cent Mongolian stake after the first thirty years.

In October 2011, the Minister of Mining and 11 other current MPs (from the DP, the JC and the MPP as well as an independent, includes 5 ministers) signed a petition to renegotiate the Oyutolgoi Investment Agreement. This called for an accelerated route to 50 per cent.

But Turquoise Hill, Rio Tinto and Oyutolgoi LLC have rejected a request from Mongolia”s Minister of Mining that the parties renegotiation of the October 2009 Investment Agreement. This was the second time in two years, that the government of Mongolia has been rebuffed on its attempts to pressure Rio Tinto into renegotiating the 2009 Investment Agreement for the US$6 billion Oyutolgoi copper and gold project. But Mongolian Government has reaffirmed that the 2009 Investment Agreement is not good  to Mongolia.