Rio Tinto Should Expect More Friction Over Giant Mongolia Mine

  • Mongolian PM says disputes may continue over tax, environment
  • Underground mining at Oyu Tolgoi officially started on Monday
The open pit mine at the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine, in Khanbogd, Mongolia.Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg
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Mongolia will keep fighting for maximum benefit from a giant copper mine run by Rio Tinto Group, the country’s prime minister said, after a major expansion of the project got underway following many years of fraught negotiations.

Rio Tinto announced Monday it had finally begun production at the underground portion of its Oyu Tolgoi operation, which it expects to be the world’s fourth-biggest copper mine by 2030. That capped more than a decade of delays, cost blowouts and disputes between Rio and Mongolia’s government.