According to a report to local media by Ch.Otgochuluu, Director General of the Department of Strategic Policy and Planning in Mongolia”s Ministry of Mining, the shareholders meeting of Oyu Tolgoi is expected to be held in two weeks.

The 7th shareholders meeting of Oyu Tolgoi is to resolve disputes that began in February this year. The Mongolian Government raised some issues regarding project costs, revenue, taxes and management. Three times attempts have been made to negotiate over the issue, but have ended in failure over the past period.

Currently the shareholders’ meeting is on a break. Ch.Otgochuluu, Director General at the Department of Strategic Policy and Planning in Mongolia”s Ministry of Mining said that “the shareholders meeting might be held in two weeks. The reason for the project cost increase is being inspected via an audit.

The feasibility study of Oyu Tolgoi outlined the start-up investment at 4.7 billion US dollars. But the initial project cost increased to 6.1 billion US dollars.

The next project investment is expected to take this increase into consideration after the reason behind the Oyu Tolgoi project cost overrun has been determined.

Due to the issue a joint working group of the State Specialized Inspection Agency, Ministry of Mining, Ministry of Finance and Oyu Tolgoi LLC, Rio Tinto group has been established to find the precise reasons of the cost increase.

The joint working group began the audit last month, but the final conclusions have not been made yet.”