A five-year project with non-refundable aid is to be implemented by the Czech Science Foundation in Mongolia. The Centre for Lithospheric Research of the Czech Geological Survey chaired by Prof. Karel Schulman, the Institute of Petrology and Geological Structure of Faculty of Science of the Charles University chaired by Ondrej Lex and the Czech Science Foundation have all decided to implement the project. The aims include continuing close cooperation with Mongolian scholars.

The project entitled, ‘Fundamental factors for generating new continental crust in the development stage of supercontinents’ has a financing of CZK 47 million (USD 2 million). The project study will cover the territory of Mongolia, the northern part of the People’s Republic of China and southeast part of the Russian Federation.

Mongolia will play pivotal role in the project and the Mongolian Academy of Sciences and technical colleges in Ulaanbaatar are engaged with the project within their established agreements that provide opportunities to conduct joint researches, exchange staff, doctoral and post-doctoral  research for Mongolian specialists in the Czech Republic, as well as to promote good practices in geology of the two countries at the international level.

According to the previous results, joint research conducted by Mongolian and Czech specialists have demonstrated the possibility of significantly influencing our understanding of the growth mechanism of continents in the evolutionary process of the Earth.

Czech geologists made a significant contribution in developing the land maps of geological deposits in Mongolia. One of their most significant achievements was discovering Eredenet, the largest copper molybdenum deposit in the 1960s. Between 1999 and 2013, Czech specialists implemented development projects worth nearly USD 4 million mostly connected with geological mapping of chosen territory in Mongolia, estimating economic potential as well as making environmental audit in Erdenet.

In addition, the Czech side handed over 87 maps with a scale of 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 that approximately covered 4000 square km of Mongolia’s land area.