Mongolia – Opportunities and challenges in the last frontier

Abstract

For decades, Mongolia remained largely underexplored because it is a landlocked nation sandwiched between Russia and China, and interest for their mineral deposits was minimal. As the center of global economic growth shifted to Asia in the last decade, many foreign investors became interested in Mongolia as the country has many known rich mineral deposits. What was then an isolated nation has become a positive strategic position as China could purchase many of the minerals Mongolia can produce to fuel its robust economic growth. As a result, geological teams and geophysical surveying companies were quickly formed to explore and evaluate the country?s mineral resource potential. Two recent world-class deposits were announced for development i.e., Oyu Tolgoi (copper and gold) and Tavan Tolgoi (coal). Some geophysical case studies are presented to highlight the opportunities and challenges required to better understand the complex geologic and stratigraphic structures that gave Mongolia its diverse and rich mineral deposits.