Rio Tinto's Mongolian copper project gets $4.4bn in loans

15th Dec 2015 07:05

(ShareCast News) - Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgoi expansion project received a boost on Tuesday when a syndicate of banks and international governments agreed $4.4bn (£2.9bn) in loans. The copper and gold mine in Mongolia was held up by a dispute between the government and Rio, with loan commitments expiring in 2014. Export credit agencies representing the governments of the United States, Canada and Australia, along with 15 commercial banks form the syndicate of lenders."Long-term copper fundamentals remain strong and Oyu Tolgoi as a tier one asset will be a globally important source of supply as the market moves back into structural deficit over the next few years," said Rio Tinto Copper and Coal chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques.Oyu Tolgoi is a copper-gold mine in the South Gobi region of Mongolia and is one of the largest undeveloped high-grade copper deposits in the world. More than 1.5m tonnes of copper concentrate have now been produced from Oyu Tolgoi.While all of the copper concentrate currently produced is from the open pit mine, more than 80% of the value of the Oyu Tolgoi lies in the proposed underground mine.