Ivanhoe Mines has approved a capital budget of $2.3 billion to continue the construction at its gold and copper mine at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia.
The company hold 66% stake in the mine with the Mongolian government holding the remaining 34% stake.
The Vancouver based mining company hopes to see construction on the first phase of the mine peak in the coming year. The mine being developed at the border near China is already employing about 3,000 Mongolians.
Oyu Tolgoi (copper-gold), Mongolia. Image Credit: Ivanhoe Mines
The construction of the mine had been halted thanks to differences between Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto. These have now been resolved with Rio Tinto agreeing to invest roughly $1.3-billion in Ivanhoe in the coming months through a rights offering and the exercise of warrants.
The new series of financing measures are part of a new agreement between the two companies.
Rio Tinto presently holds a 29.6% interest in Ivanhoe Mines.
John Macken, President of Ivanhoe Mines said that Oyu Tolgoi should be making its first sales of copper and gold in concentrate produced from ore from the Southern Oyu open pit during the fourth quarter of 2012.