Copper shipments resume from Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi mine after protests

Concentrate export shipments from the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine returned to normal after they were interrupted by local protestors, the project's operator, London-based multinational mining company Rio Tinto said in a statement on its local social media June 18.

Oyu Tolgoi, a major copper-gold mine in the South Gobi Desert of Mongolia, is jointly owned by the government of Mongolia, with a 34% stake, and Rio Tinto, which holds the remaining 66% and manages the operation, according to the company's website.

Members of a group called the Radical Reform Movement blocked the road and trucks carrying concentrate from Oyu Tolgoi to China on June 16-17, according to its Facebook posts over the last few days.

"Let's stop the export of Oyu Tolgoi's wealth," the group said in a June 16 Facebook post, adding that they intended to stop 160 trucks carrying 40 two-ton bags of concentrate each.

"In reality, even more is being transported, while Mongolians are racking up Tugriks 10 billion-15 billion [$2.8 million-$4.2 million] in debt daily," said the group, adding they were submitting requirements to the Oyu Tolgoi project management team.

A Rio Tinto representative [SPOKESPERSON?] declined to specify the protestors' requirements or whether the company had addressed them, when contacted by Platts, part of S&P Global Energy.

The company said in its June 18 statement that the Oyu Tolgoi operation injected an average of Tugriks 23 billion/day into the economy and, through its direct and indirect contributions, accounted for more than 10% of the Mongolian economy.

Mongolia was bailed out by multilateral and bilateral creditors to avoid a sovereign debt default in 2017, and since 2021 the country has gradually improved its macroeconomic performance, with public debt dropping from 77.8% of GDP in 2020 to less than 40% in 2024, according to European credit insurance group Credendo.

Mongolia's economy remains highly reliant on the mineral sector, and specifically on revenue from coal, copper, gold and iron ore, meaning it is highly vulnerable to these commodities' demand and price fluctuations, but the risk has been mitigated by high prices for gold and huge market potential for copper, and the expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi mine could be a buffer in making Mongolia more resilient to such volatility, said Credendo.

However, the credit insurance group warned that the Mongolian government would continue to face protests in the absence of progress in addressing structural problems, such as the high cost of living and the lack of socioeconomic benefits from commodity extraction.

A ramp-up, higher head grades and recovery rates pushed Oyu Tolgoi's copper production 61% higher year over year to 345,000 mt in 2025. At its peak, the mine is expected to produce 500,000 mt/year, according to Rio Tinto.

Platts assessed the clean copper concentrate price at $3,759/mt CIF China on June 18; the daily assessment gained $400/mt, or 12%, from early January and grew by $1,180/mt, or 45%, year over year.