Parliament yesterday approved, with 90.4 percent MPs voting for it, a proposal to begin work on establishing a copper smelter at the Erdenet factory this year. The most important consideration was the new jobs the smelter would offer though some MPs worried that it might not be economically viable only 23 percent of the output at the Erdenet mines is copper, the rest being soil. 

Kh.Narankhuu noted the smelter would lead to a drastic fall in the volume of railway freight, creating problems for the UB Railway. On the flip side will be the trade benefits, and Mongolia would not have to depend solely on China to buy its copper ore, if it can produce refined copper. Funds would be a problem as the Erdenet factory is already in debt. Erdenet produces 130,000 tons of ore a year, part of which can be refined and part exported as ore.