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The widely read Huffington Post in one of its characteristically breathless pieces on the environment on Tuesday calls out Vancouver-based Ivanhoe Mines’ Oyu Tolgoi project.
In an article by one Michael Klare titled “10 Beautiful Places We Could Destroy With Human Drilling” the massive Mongolian copper, silver and gold project – alongside mining projects in Alaska, Africa, the Arctic and Bolivia – is named as one of the worst potential blights on the planet:
Until very recently, most Mongolians were nomadic herders and the landscape – consisting of rolling steppes and desert – was largely untouched by human interference. Now all that is about to change. Since it became a multi-party democracy in 1990, Mongolia has been criss-crossed by mining firms seeking promising ore deposits and one such site, at Oyu Tolgoi (Turquoise Hill) in the southern Gobi desert, is soon to be mined for copper. Environmentalists worry that development of Oyu Tolgoi will threaten the livelihood of traditional Mongolian herders and produce enormous pollution.
Missing from the Huffpo piece, naturally, is that the 75%-complete project, will help turn Mongolia, one of the poorest countries in the world, into the world’s fastest-growing economy with staggering economic growth of 35%.
Oyu Tolgoi is forecast to contribute a third of the country’s GDP when it goes into full operation and increase the average earnings of Mongolians by 60%. The Mongolian government owns 33% of the project.
The mine in the South Gobi desert is on track to produce more than 1.2 billion pounds of copper and 650,000 ounces of gold each year with a mine life measured in generations not decades.
Mongolia’s land mass is three times the size of France and the country of fewer than 3 million citizens is one of the most sparsely populated places on earth.
With only 5 inhabitants per square mile only Greenland and Western Sahara has fewer people than Mongolia.
7 Comments
BobMeshew
I worked Oyu for a few months. You have never been there, if you had then I believe you need a new air of glasses. There is more action in Death Valley than Oyu. That said, take care of the environment.
D_picha
people need to calm down, mining is not that bad -> giving to the locals THOUSANDS of high-paying jobs which translate onto a better quality of life. ALSO, the mongolian government is getting a huge amount of tax money (royalties) from this mega-mine. You can count on one hand how many unmined deposits of this magnitude that are left on the planet. FINALLY, since when is the middle of the desert beautiful? Drama queen environmentalists at it again!
Larrysjonnesen
People like Michael Klare just upset my stomach. I’ve been a miner most of my 60 years and I’m also a wildlife and nature photographer. I know that we can mine for minerals and not destroy the environment that I love to photograph and most mining companies these days are doing a good job of it. I could not afford to buy my camera and lenses if it were not for mining and, in fact, my camera and lenses would not be built if it were not for mining.
neil
What is not mentioned is the mess the Russians left behind from the 1960’s until 1990. They also drilled and tore up the Gobi with myriad trenches in the same area. Having myself worked the region I don’t consider flat gravelly/sandy desert to be beautiful.
A Geologist
Utter utopian based drivel derived from a total lack of understanding of either our planet and its dynamic processes – including the need for resource development as part of the economic mix we all require – even Michael- to survive.
nut
I’m almost certain that, that dude never heard about Oyu Tolgoy and never cared about it’s landscape BEFORE it became a mineral discovery and a feasible mining project. Now he’s preoccupied… such an hypocrite!
Doug
The population of Mongolia, as few as it is, has been bitten by the bug that plagues North America, Europe, Japan, etc. They have learned very recently that they like nice cars, nice clothes and they want electronics and a social culture to go along with their traditional culture. Cashmere is not going to supply 3 million people with that lifestyle, but becoming one of the world leaders in mining is a good start. Like anywhere else, the controls have to be in place to protect the environment as best as it can be.