Erdenet to Ovoot railway development advances

Mongolian metallurgical coal explorer and infrastructure company, Aspire Mining Ltd and its subsidiary, Northern Railways LLC, have entered into a binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China Gezhouba Group International Company Ltd (CGGC) to advance the Erdenet – Ovoot railway project as part of the Northern Rail Corridor.

This MoU follows on from an earlier non-binding agreement between the parties to cooperate on developing the Erdenet – Ovoot Railway announced on 6 June 2017.

Under the MoU, CGGC has agreed to complete the second and final stage of the Rail Bankable Feasibility Study by 31 March 2018. In return, Northern Railways has agreed to seek to include CGGC along with China Railways Construction Bureau 20 Group to jointly work on the design, procurement and construction of the project. If CGGC is not included in the design, procurement and construction of the rail project, NR has agreed to compensate CGGC for the work performed on the feasibility study.

The MoU also sets out a pathway for the development of the Erdenet to Ovoot railway project as well as the potential extension of that project from Ovoot through to the Mongolian/Russian border. To this end, CGGC have expressed a willingness, on a best efforts basis, to:

• Assist Northern Railways to seek investors to fund the Northern Rail Corridor.
• Support Northern Railways efforts to extend the Northern Rail Corridor to eventually connect to Russia at the Arts Suuri border.
• Assist Aspire source investment to fund the development of the Ovoot metallurgical coal project.

The MoU also provides the framework by which CGGC can provide additional equity investment in Northern Railways in order to fund the company through to meeting the outstanding conditions precedent for the Erdenet – Ovoot Rail Concession and for EPC funding, with such additional equity investment proposed to be made on or before 15 February 2018.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcoal.com/exploration-and-development/13102017/erdenet-to-ovoot-railway-development-advances/