Rio Tinto says it has started new exploration work in Mongolia’s Gobi desert outside of its Oyu Tolgoi licenses, following a gap of around five years.

The news is a sign that Mongolia is beginning to bring back foreign investors following a deep economic slump, declining commodity prices and a downturn in coal demand.

Mongolia is a mineral-rich country boasting large copper, gold and coal deposits; however, until recently just 9.6% of its land was available for prospecting. But this is about to change, as the Mongolian Mining Minister Dashdorj Tsedev announced in early March that 20.9% of the country will soon be opened up for exploration.

This will allow Mongolia to profit from its estimated 162 billion metric tonnes of coal, an amount which puts it within the top 15 coal rich countries in the world. The coal is distributed across 1.5 million km² relatively evenly, but it differs in quality. The biggest proven reserve lies within the South Gobi desert where 6.4 billion tonnes of coal is located, of which 40% is high quality coking coal making it a likely key area for further exploration.

Rio has a 66% shareholding in Oyu Tolgoi, a copper and gold mine in the southern Gobi Desert, a stake it holds indirectly through a majority ownership of Turquoise Hill Resources.

Mongolia is ranked 12th in the world for copper researches, with 35 million tonnes (Mt) of copper located in the South Gobi desert alone.