Gurvanbulag (Saddle Hills)

From Mongol Studies Online Reference

Gurvanbulag is a uranium mine in the Dornod Aimag, originally explored by the Soviet Union in the 1960's. Gurvanbulag falls on the eastern edge of the Saddle Hills uranium basin. A feasibility study conducted in 1987 by the Soviet Union estimates the site holds nearly 9000 metric tons of extractable uranium.

Contents 1 Location 2 Ownership 3 Cost 4 External Links 5 References

[edit] Location

Gurvanbulag is located in the Northwestern Section of the Dornod Aimag, only 100 km from the Chinese border and accessible by road from the nearest large population center, Choibalsan. ^[1] It is 685km away from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia's capital. Google Map of the Region and Gurvanbulag Site.

[edit] Ownership

Gurvanbulag is owned 100% by Western Prospector Ltd., a Canadian mining outfit, which bought the site in 2004 as part of its overall Saddle Hills mining project. Western Prospector Ltd. was subsequently taken over for 25 million USD by CNNC International, a subsidiary of China's CNNC Uranium Holdings Inc. and SinoU. Thus 69% of the companies shares are currently owned by Chinese state run corporations. ^[2][3]

Licenses for the Gurvanbulag site were suspending in 2009 for 3 months by the Mongolian government, citing alleged violations of Mongolian law. It remains to be seen whether Mongolia's new Nuclear Energy Law and recent developments will lead the revocation of these suspensions.^[4]

[edit] Cost

The cost of extracting uranium from the Gurvanbulag site is estimated at 95 USD per ton. Developing the mine overall is estimated to cost around 280 million USD, considerably cheaper considering the amount of leftover Soviet infrastructure. The mine is estimated to be barely economically viable, at a constant uranium price of 65$ per pound of yellowcake. The mine is assumed able to generate 1.83 million pounds of yellowcake per annum, for a total of 9 years.^[5]

[edit] External Links

• 2008 Technical Report on Feasibility of Gurvanbulag Site

• Presentation on Gurvanbulag Site Prepared by Western Prospector Ltd.

• Independent Report on Western Prospectors Ltd. Mongolia Operations

[edit] References

1. ↑ "Mongolia." Uranium in Central Asia. World Nuclear Association. Retrieved on 10 Aug. 2009.
2. ↑ "Gurvanbulag." Uranium Mine Ownership. WISE Uranium Project. Retrieved on 28 July 2009.
3. ↑ Press Release Concerning Purchase of Western Prospector
4. ↑ "Unwelcome surprises for uranium firms." World Nuclear News 26 July 2009. Retrieved on 1.Aug.2009.
5. ↑ [1]