Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (“Turquoise Hill” of the “Company”) today announced that Oyu Tolgoi LLC (“Oyu Tolgoi”) has declared force majeure in connection with customer contracts for concentrate as a result of Oyu Tolgoi shipments of concentrate to its Chinese customers being suspended due to COVID-19 health and safety precautions related to Chinese-Mongolian border crossings. Oyu Tolgoi continues to support the Government of Mongolia’s efforts to work with Chinese officials to resume the shipments of copper concentrate to its Chinese customers as soon as possible.
Also, Oyu Tolgoi confirmed two cases of COVID-19 at site which were managed in compliance with public health guidelines and have completed a total of 9,726 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests at site that have all been confirmed negative. The open pit mine, concentrator plant and bagging plant have continued to operate uninterrupted, however, underground work was halted while testing was underway to ensure the safety of employees on site. Furthermore, ongoing travel restrictions have had implications related to people movement from Ulaanbaatar to site and Oyu Tolgoi is therefore developing contingency plans to mitigate any associated risks. The Company will continue to monitor the situation and assess any impact on Oyu Tolgoi’s operations or underground work, and update the market as appropriate.