A consortium of Russian companies, which includes the energy-related company En+ Group, the leading Russian asset management company Renova group, and Severstal's mining division Severstal Resources, have submitted a bid for the development of Mongolia's Tavan Tolgoi deposit, the largest undeveloped coking coal deposit in the world.
According to local media reports, the Russian consortium presented its proposal to the Mongolian side in January and received a positive reaction.
The Mongolian government is planning to sell 49 percent of the Tavan Tolgoi project, as it is facing a budget deficit this year, partly due to declining copper prices and cutbacks in mining exploration. Currently, nine bids have been received for mining rights to the coal mine. Among the bidders are such mining companies as Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce (Vale), Australia's Rio Tinto, Swiss-based Xstrata and Beijing-based China Shenhua Energy. The mining bids are expected to reach $2 billion.
Mongolia's Tavan Tolgoi mine, with estimated coking coal reserves of 6.5 billion metric tons, is located in Ömnögovi province in the south of the country.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, the Russian three-party consortium eyed the acquisition of rights for developing the deposits in 2006, but the Mongolian government canceled the sale.