Topic: How To Invest

Hi Pat: What is your take on the huge mining play in Mongolia with Turquoise Hill Resources and Rio Tinto? Thanks.

Article Excerpt

Turquoise Hill Resources, $8.23, symbol TRQ on Toronto (Shares outstanding: 1.0 billion; Market cap: $8.2 billion; www.turquoisehill.com), was formerly called Ivanhoe Mines. The company is an emerging copper producer that is focused on the Asia-Pacific region, particularly its main asset, the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia, which is one of the world’s largest copper/gold deposits. Turquoise Hill owns 66% of Oyu Tolgoi, and the Mongolian government holds the remaining 34%. The company also owns 58% of Mongolian coal miner SouthGobi Resources, 59% of copper-gold miner Ivanhoe Australia and 50% of Altynalmas Gold, a private company that is developing the Kyzyl Gold Project in Kazakhstan. Turquoise Hill has formed a partnership with its largest shareholder, Rio Tinto (which holds 51% of the company) to develop Oyu Tolgoi. Construction is now well underway at the $6.2-billion mine, and it should begin production in late 2013. Oyu Tolgoi will start as an open-pit operation and will then move underground to access deeper resources. Mining giant Rio Tinto’s…