"...the boom continued unabated in spite of the fall in the world gold price and the Bre-X scandal..." | ABSTRACT Mongolia is experiencing a sustained boom in gold production, reaching 11.5 tons in 2000 having increased every year since 1992 from a low base of only 0.5 tons.
This boom is a Government-sponsored ‘gold rush’ by gold mining companies, mostly Russian and Mongolian. Virtually all of the gold output is from placer gold mines (99%). In 2000, gold was produced by 102 placer mining companies, but only 21 of them produced more than 100 kilos of gold each, yet 4 companies each produced more than 1 ton of gold each.
The boom continued unabated in spite of the fall in the world gold price and the Bre-X scandal, as most of the placer companies are either State-owned, private corporations or controlled by private companies. Therefore there was only limited western stock-market funding to arrive and depart.
Being focussed on placer, and focussed on mining in preference to exploration, the mining companies generated early cash flow that enabled some to become major players in the local economy and diversify into many sectors. DOWNLOAD ARTICLE
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