World’s longest traffic jam points to Mongolia recovery

As the United States and its allies look back on a weekend of memorials and tributes to the nearly 3,000 victims of 9/11, the country that was struck in retaliation for the 2001 attack on America could become a hotbed of mining. The National reports that Indian firms are bidding billions of dollars for a contract to mine iron ore in a central district of Afghanistan: "A consortium led by the state-run Steel Authority of India (SAIL) could invest up to US$6 billion (Dh22bn) in the mine, railroads and a steel plant in a race with China to lock in raw materials for two of the world's fastest-growing economies."

Strong interest in the Mongolian resource sector has provided shareholders in Hunnu Coal a 800% gain in only 18 months. Thailand's Banpu announced Tuesday it is taking over the ASX-listed junior for $400 million or $1.80/share – Hunnu went public in February 2010 at 20c. Hunnu may be the first of many firms with Mongolian coal assets to attract bidders with Ivanhoe Mines' SouthGobi and TSX-V junior Prophecy Coal talked about as likely targets and a way in for smaller investors who are not be able to participate in Tavan Tolgoi's $3 billion IPO slated for next year.

Mining investments could reach $2.8 billion in the Philippines this year if Chinese investors proceed with plans to jointly develop mining projects in the country, a senior mining official said Tuesday. There is a good chance that an initial target of $1.4 billion could be doubled if Chinese investors follow through in the last quarter on investments they have expressed interest in, Mines and Geosciences Bureau director Leo Jasareno said.

Newmont Mining Corp.'s Indonesian unit said on Monday it is in talks with a worker union and local government to solve a protest that blocked access to its copper and gold mine last week.

Gold demand, which dropped in the second quarter of this year, is expected to strengthen by the end of 2011, driven by robust jewelry buying in India and China and recovery in investment demand, senior World Gold Council (WGC) officials said.

Reuters reports Indonesia may impose a tax or quota on mineral ore exports ahead of a planned regulation to ban all exports of raw minerals by 2014, the industry ministry said on Wednesday. The planned ban is part of a mining and coal law introduced in 2009 that requires miners to process minerals into higher value products before exporting them. The move would negatively impact copper miners Newmont and Freeport as currently only 30% of output is processed domestically and comes on top of news that workers at Freeport's massive Grasberg mine in the Papua province plan a second strike next week after wages negotiations broke down.

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 7, 2011) - East Asia Minerals Corporation (TSX VENTURE:EAS) wishes to report on the progress of its 2011 summer drilling campaign at its wholly-owned uranium projects located in Mongolia. The drilling campaign was launched in August with the objectives of (a) meeting annual expenditure requirements to keep the projects in good standing; (b) test previously identified targets at the Enger and Ingenii-Nars projects; and (c) initiate early stage exploration at the Ulaan Nuur, Sevsuul Bulag, Bukht Uul and Unegt prospects.

Bloomberg reports Mongolia is likely to sell a stake in its Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi coal-mining company to the public next year, raising more than $3 billion. The Tavan Tolgoi deposit – mined since the 60s – in the South Gobi desert is the world's largest with a 6 billion tonne resource of high-quality coking coal used in steelmaking. Metallurgical coal has been trading at record levels of $330/tonne this year. Tavan Tolgoi is the second largest mining investment in Mongolia behind the Oyu Tolgoi gold-copper mine being built by Canada's Ivanhoe Mines.

HONG KONG, CHINA--(Marketwire - Sept. 6, 2011) - Alexander Molyneux, President and CEO of SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX:SGQ)(SEHK:1878) is pleased to announce today that the company has set a new monthly record of 441,665 tonnes of coal shipped in August, representing a substantial increase over shipping levels in the second quarter of 2011. "We have seen a continual increase this quarter in capacity being allocated by customers to collect our coal", said Mr. Molyneux. "We are pleased to see our shipping rate reach a level of approximately 5.3 million tonnes of coal per year on an annualized basis so soon, which is on track to meet our targets."