Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia,
24 October 2019
•Opened “Chandmani" Operations and Service Centre - the operational headquarters for the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine;
•Rope up is complete for both the service cage and the production hoists of Shaft 2, Oyu Tolgoi underground;
•Signed a MNT 2.7 billion leather safety boots supply contract with a national shoe maker Khos-Az LLC;
•National procurement spend in 2019 reached US$329 million as of the end of Q3 2019;
•On track to achieve the 2019 copper and gold production guidance.

In the third quarter of 2019, Oyu Tolgoi achieved an All Injury Frequency Rate (AIFR) of 0.18 per 200,000 hours worked. Safety remains Oyu Tolgoi’s top priority for as we maintain strong safety performance and culture across our workforce. To reinforce our safety culture across our wider community we are campaigning for safer roads with our partner National Police Agency, committing over MNT 280 million for communication and provincial road monitoring system. Earlier this month, we co-hosted “Safety First - 2019” conference with the Mongolian Occupational Safety and Health Professionals’ Association.

Oyu Tolgoi collaborated with 764 suppliers in the first three quarters of this year, 524 of which are national businesses that account for 76 per cent of the total operations procurement spend. Between 2010 and the third quarter of 2019, Oyu Tolgoi spent over US$3 billion on national procurement, of which US$523 million was spent on procurement from Umnugovi. We signed a MNT 2.7 billion contract to purchase 5,000 locally made standard leather safety boots from Khos-Az LLC over the next three years. Sixty-four new jobs were created with opening of two new factories in Manlai soum. The factories will supply concentrate bags and single-use coveralls to the mine.

Annual community open days were organised in Khanbogd, Bayan-Ovoo and Manlai soums in collaboration with respective governor’s offices under the theme “We Are One Family.”

The Oyu Tolgoi Performance Scorecard for Q3 2019 is available here.

Underground Development Update
Rope up is complete for both the service cage and the production hoists of Shaft 2. Other key infrastructure components completed during Q3 include the central heating plant expansion, the Shaft 2 jaw crusher system and the Shaft 2 surface discharge conveyor. Lateral underground development in Q3 has accelerated. In September, the team achieved a record 1,385 equivalent metres of lateral underground development. As previously announced, on July 15th 2019, improved rock mass information and geotechnical data modelling has confirmed that there are stability risks associated with components of the Feasibility Study 2016 mine design. To address these risks, a number of mine design options are under consideration to complete the project. In the interim period, underground development continues, and we look forward to providing the market with updates on the schedule and development capital spend as appropriate.

Q3’19 Production report

Highlights:
Q3’s solid operational performance was impacted by a concentrator shutdown brought forward from October to September, combined with a higher-than-planned feed from the harder Phase 4B ore.
• Copper production in concentrate of 28,446 tonnes, a decrease of 27.8% vs Q3 2018
• Gold production in concentrate of 25,607 ounces, a decrease of 66.8% vs Q3 2018
• Mill throughput increased 4% year-over-year and decreased 3.4% sequentially
• On track to achieve 2019 copper and gold production guidance

As anticipated, the transition from mining Phase 4A to lower grade Phase 4B and stockpiles resulted in:
• Lower copper head grade of 0.37 vs 0.46 Q2 2019
• Lower gold head grade of 0.14 vs 0.31 Q2 2019
• Concentrate production decreased 27.2% vs Q2 2019
• Copper production in concentrate decreased 27.4% vs Q2 2019
• Gold production in concentrate decreased 64.3% vs Q2 2019

Total copper and gold production in concentrate year-to-date is 113,400 tonnes and 217,500 ounces respectively, and we remain on track to achieve our forecast target of 125,000 – 155,000 tonnes of copper and up to 230,000 ounces of gold. As we guided in both our Q1 and Q2 2019 production updates, the average copper and gold grades have continued to decline in accordance with our mine plan. The Phase 4A higher grade ore has been depleted and, as planned, the primary ore source changed to Phase 4B and lower grade stockpiles. In addition to mining lower-grade ore, the processed ore tonnage was lower than the previous quarter due to lower mill availability resulting from a shift of planned maintenance from October to September 2019.

Oyu Tolgoi Production Data
All data represents full production and sales on a 100% basis
2Q 2018 3 Q2018 4Q 2018 1Q 2019 2Q 2019 3Q 2019 1H 2019 1H 2018 Full year 2018

Open pit material mined (‘000 tonnes) 22,792 22,523 22,863 23,943 24,408 24,844
48,351 45,923 91,310
Ore treated (‘000 tonnes) 10,164 9,652 9,361 9,255 10,394 10,040 19,649 19,725
38,738
Average mill head grades:
Copper (%) 0.48 0.51 0.55 0.57 0.46 0.37 0.51 0.50 0.51
Gold (g/t) 0.26 0.38 0.56 0.58 0.31 0.14 0.44 0.25 0.36
Silver (g/t) 1.17 1.19 1.22 1.25 1.20 1.03 1.23 1.24 1.22
Concentrates produced (‘000 tonnes) 178.8 179.8 189.0 210.1 180.6 131.3 390.7
356.1 724.9
Average concentrate grade (% Cu) 22.0 21.9 21.9 21.8 21.7 21.7 21.8 22.0 21.9

Production of metals in concentrates:
Copper (‘000 tonnes) 39.4 39.4 41.5 45.8 39.2 28.4 85.0 78.2 159.1
Gold (‘000 ounces) 50 77 117 120 72 25.6 192 92 285
Silver (‘000 ounces) 225 230 238 247 238 191 486 446 914

Concentrate sold (‘000 tonnes) 220.0 171.9 191.4 184.9 225.3 157 410.3 383.1
746.4
\Sales of metals in concentrates:
Copper (‘000 tonnes) 46.1 36.0 40.2 38.5 46.6 32.4 85.1 80.4 156.7
Gold (‘000 ounces) 51 55 111 98 116 35.4 213 82 248
Silver (‘000 ounces) 250 201 216 200 245 207 445 456 873

Metal recovery (%)
Copper 79.7 80.9 84.8 83.8 80.2 75.1 82.2 79.6 81.4
Gold 59.8 64.7 71.7 70.1 63.6 54.7 68.2 57.6 65.2
Silver 58.4 62.8 67.1 63.2 59.2 56 61.2 56.4 60.9

About Oyu Tolgoi LLC (www.ot.mn)

Oyu Tolgoi LLC, Mongolia's largest copper and gold mining company, is a strategic partnership between the Government of Mongolia, Turquoise Hill Resources and Rio Tinto. Located in the South Gobi, Oyu Tolgoi commenced shipment of product to customers in July 2013. Oyu Tolgoi is managed by Rio Tinto, which is investing global expertise and cutting-edge technology to help develop Mongolia’s mining industry and ensure Oyu Tolgoi is one of the world’s most advanced mines. For Oyu Tolgoi, nothing matters more than safety. The business operates under the principle that if a job cannot be done safely, it will not be done at all.

see &read more on
http://ot.mn/oyu-tolgoi-announces-q3-19-performance-results/

Rio Tinto Turquoise Hill en Entée Resources are in this project.