Rio Tinto has refused to back an increase in the planned size of the USD4.6-billion Oyutolgoi project laid out by its partner in the project, Ivanhoe Mines. Ivanhoe’s new development plan, released in May, said
the mine in the South Gobi desert would produce 540,000 tons of copper and 670,000 ounces of gold annually from 2013.

In a recent presentation in Ulaanbaatar, Rio copper chief executive Kay Priestly confirmed speculation that Rio believed the plan was too ambitious. He stuck to the old numbers, and said the company expected the mine to produce an average of 450,000 tons of copper a year and just 330,000 ounces of gold. She did not give a start date.

Rio is a development and operating partner in Oyutolgoi with Ivanhoe, in which it has a 22.4 per cent stake with the option to go to 44 per cent. The Mongolian government owns 34 per cent of the project.