Stewart Group, the international
inspection, analysis and assay group has expanded its operations in Mongolia. A
new fire assay laboratory, with state-of-the-art equipment, has been added to
the Stewart Mongolia LLC facility in Ulaanbaatar, which can now provide a
significantly broader range of services

Simon Morris, the new Khan Bank Chief Executive Officer, recently called on First Deputy
Prime Minister N.Altankhuyag to discuss topical issues. Altankhuyag said the
banking sector has to be restructured in anticipation of the promised mining
boom and this requires united action and

The head of the President’s Office, D.Battulga yesterday called
Col.Kh.Enkhjargal and Col. L.Batzorig, Chief of 
Traffic Police Board and  State
Security respectively, to tell them of a suggestion from President Ts.Elbegdorj
on management of traffic when the President or the Prime Minister or the
Parliament

Rio Tinto  would acquire another 5.3 percent of Ivanhoe
Mines as part of its investment in Oyu Tolgoi. The deal, worth some USD400
million takes Rio Tinto”s stake in Ivanhoe Mines to 34.9 percent and was based
on the conversion of a loan

The South Korean Government has sent a
team of experts to assess the damage to the environment from mining in Mongolia
at the request of the Government. It will also establish an information
database. The team has been very impressed
by its visit to

Mitsui & Co. is joining
with China’s Shenhua Group Corp. to bid for development rights to the Tavan
Tolgoi coal field, Nikkei English News reports. Mitsui has signed an agreement
with Shenhua for a tie-up in mine development and coal trading, Nikkei
reported.

Petro Matad has announced that the Davsan Tolgoi-2
exploration well was spudded late in August. The well is being drilled
vertically to an estimated target depth of approximately 1,300 meters and
operations are expected to take approximately 25 days. DT-2 is the second
exploration

Minister for Minerals and
Energy D. Zorigt has been reported by Bloomberg as saying in an interview in
the Chinese city of Tianjin that Mongolia will take bids for a contractor to
mine Tavan Tolgoi “in early October”.

Mongolia wants to retain
ownership of

Seoul’s Munhwa Ilbo newspaper has reported, quoting
unnamed government officials, that South Korea has secured evidence that North
Korea has been smuggling banned materials which could be used for rocket and
missile launches, often using forged documents to disguise their destination,
through China and

The
accumulated loss in the energy sector rose from MNT24.4 billion in 2008 to
MNT69.9 billion in 2009. Now, says Ts.Bayarbaatar, Chief of the Energy Board,
the situation is looking up after the State Budget allocated MNT15 billion to
the sector. Some more money