TRQ - Rio Tinto offers $3.2b loan forgiveness to Mongolia - partner Turquoise Hill shares spike on the news

Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) has partnered with Turquoise Hill (NYSE:TRQ) and the Mongolian Government to operate the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia; although above-ground operations are producing currently, Rio has struggled to expand operations below ground. The current operation above ground is expected to produce 165kt of copper in 2021, but once completed in 2023 the combined operation could produce as much as 500kt of copper annually, over 1.0% of global copper supply. Unfortunately, the project has seen cost overruns and delays, which have resulted in under ground production moving from 2021 to 1h 2023, and capex budgets moving from $4.6b to above $7.0b The Mongolian Government owns a 34% stake in the project, and as is often the case, the foreign partners have offered to fund the Government's share of project costs through a loan While there's a fair degree of finger pointing as to the source of

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Rio Tinto offers $3.2b loan forgiveness to Mongolia - partner Turquoise Hill shares spike on the news