Vancouver-based miner Turquoise Hill (TSX:TRQ) is expecting its majority-owned Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia to churn in 2018 more than double the amount of the precious metal forecast for this year, with operating costs dropping about 2.8%.

In an update that went almost unnoticed, the Canadian miner said this week it expected the massive Mongolian mine to produce 240,000 to 280,000 ounces of gold concentrate next year, more than double the 100,000 to 140,000 ounces initially expected for 2017.

The Rio Tinto-controlled company also forecast the mine to generate 125,000 to 155,000 tonnes of copper in 2018, slightly less than the 130,000 to 160,000 tonnes predicted for this year.

Open-pit operations are expected to mine in Phase 6 in early 2018 and Phase 4 throughout the year, while it will also expects to process stockpiled ore in 2018.

Situated in the southern Gobi desert of Mongolia, about 550 km south of the capital, Ulaanbaatar and 80 k north of the border with China, Oyu Tolgoi is jointly owned by the government of Mongolia (34%) and Turquoise Hill (66%, of which Rio Tinto owns 51%).

The mine is expected to be world’s third-largest copper operation at peak production in 2025, with output of over 550,000 tonnes per year. Since mining accounts for around 25% of Mongolia’s GDP and more than 80%of exports, experts believe that increasing mining exploration could potentially raise the Asian nation’s GDP and economic security.