Mongolia Mining Industry

31st October 2022 Mongolia Mining Industry

Mongolia’s mining sector

The first state mining industry in Mongolia was established 100 years ago, on December 25, 1922, with the establishment of the Nalaikh Coal Mine Deposit located 40 km from the city of Ulaanbaatar. Therefore, in December 2022, Mongolia’s mining sector will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Today, Mongolia’s mining sector accounts for 90% of the country’s exports and 30% of its budget revenue, and more than 60,000 people work in the sector.

Cooper mines

Considering the total production, 2 copper mines with processing plants, Erdenet Mining Corporation SOE and Oyu Tolgoi LLC produce more than 1 million tons of copper concentrate per year. Total prepared copper reserves are about 30 million tons.

Coal industry

The coal industry produces about 40 million tons of coal, and exports more than 30 million tons for metallurgical purposes. 90% of coal exports are supplied by 4 large mines with an annual capacity of up to 10 million tons, and these mines are located in the southern regions near the southern border of Mongolia. Estimated coal reserves are 37.2 billion tons.

Iron, gold and other deposits

Moreover, 5-8 million tons of iron ore are extracted and exported from the main iron mines which are located in the northern regions. Total reserves of iron ore are 1.2 billion tons.

Mongolia ranks first 4th in the world in terms of fluorspar mining, and an average of 400-500 thousand tons of ore is mined and exported annually. The fluorspar reserves  are 48.3 million tons.

Also, Mongolia’s mining industry produces 20-22 tons of gold per year and has 2,500 tons of gold reserves.

Modern geotechnological methods have been widely introduced in the mining industry since 2000. Today, 15,000 tons of cathode copper is produced annually from copper oxide ore using SX-EW technology by two producers and additionally, three new projects are in development at Erdenet Mining Corporation SOE and at Tsagaan Suvarga deposit.

There are also 2 factories for extracting gold from heaped ore, Bayan-Airag and Steppegold, and a factory with such technology has been developed at the Gachuurt deposit with 80 tons of reserves. The geotechnological further direction is to develop uranium mining at the French-invested company „Badrach-Energy” and at the Czech-invested „Gurvansaikhan” LLC. Together, these companies have designed a plant capable of producing up to 3,000 tons of uranium oxide. Total proven uranium reserves are 197,000 tons.

There are 2 companies working in the field of oil and they are producing about 1 million tons of crude oil. Oil reserves are estimated at 330 million tons.

Furthermore, about 3 million tons of sand, gravel, clay, and limestone are mined for the production of building materials.

Future trend

The future trend of Mongolia’s mining industry is moving from extraction to processing industry, and a development concept has been developed to maintain the production of final products in the next 20 years. The goal is to intensify the development of copper smelters, oil refineries, and ferrous metallurgy.

Next WMC Congress

World Mining Congress

2026

The 27th World Mining Congress will be organized in 2026 in Peru.

Learn more
27th
Next IOC Meeting

IOC / WMC Meeting

2025

The 106th IOC/WMC meeting will be organized on September 18th 2025 in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Learn more
106th

Our news Others news

30th May 2025 Unlocking the future of sustainable seabed mining

Seabeds raw minerals. Source; Photo by Nathan Langer on Unsplash

Lately a significant milestone in sustainable resource development has just been reached by Impossible Metals Inc.,…

29th May 2025 Velvet-Wood uranium and vanadium mine first project approved under new framework

The nuclear power plant at night. Source: Photo by Nicolas HIPPERT on Unsplash

The Velvet-Wood uranium and vanadium mine in San Juan County, Utah, has just received approval from…

28th May 2025 Harmony Gold with a $1.03 billion USD bid for MAC Copper

Gold bars. Source: Photo by Zlaťáky.cz on Unsplash

Harmony Gold Mining Company Limited has publicly announced a transformative step in the company's journey towards…

23rd May 2025 Gilar Mine begins production!

Miner and a truck in underground mine. Source: Photo by Munkh-Erdene Eenee on Unsplash.

Anglo Asian Mining has made a press release informing that it has commenced production at Gilar,…

22nd May 2025 Mineral lease is the milestone in U.S. offshore mineral development

Seabeds raw minerals. Source; Photo by Nathan Langer on Unsplash

To strengthen domestic critical mineral resources, the U.S. Department of the Interior is initiating a process…

22nd May 2025 Argentina gives green light to a $2.5 billion Rio Tinto’s lithium project

Lithium battery. Source: Photo by Vardan Papikyan on Unsplash

Argentina's government has given the green light to a $2.5 billion lithium mining project by Rio…

16th May 2025 Talon Metals with a record-breaking sulphide discovery

Yellow mineral rock. Source: Photo by Kin Shing Lai on Unsplash

Talon Metals Corp., the majority owner and operator of the Tamarack Nickel-Copper-Cobalt Project in central Minnesota,…

16th May 2025 Building a new global rare earth supply chain

Open-pit mine aerial view. Source: moritz-lange unspash

MP Materials, a leading U.S. rare earths miner, has entered a transformative partnership with Saudi Arabia’s…

12th May 2025 Saudi Arabia strengthens ties with the U.S. in mining and minerals sector

Truck during hauling process. Source: Photo by Dominik Vanyi on Unsplash.

Saudi Arabia is gearing up for a groundbreaking partnership with the United States in mining and…

6th May 2025 World Mining Data 2025 is available!

World Mining Data cover.

Data importance Data is the bedrock of modern decision-making, and in the world of mining, it's…