Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (“Turquoise Hill” or the “Company”) announced today that Mr. Ulf Quellmann has resigned as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer effective March 3, 2021, the Board of Directors of the Company (the “Board”) and Mr. Quellmann having agreed that it would not be in the best interests of the Company for Mr. Quellmann to continue in this position.
We thank Mr. Quellmann for his service to Turquoise Hill and the advancements he has made in bringing the Company closer to a financing plan for the Oyu Tolgoi project. Prior to Mr. Quellmann’s resignation, members of the Board’s special committee of independent directors (the “Special Committee”) had several conversations with Mr. Quellmann regarding his tenure as CEO and his ability to continue leading negotiations with Rio Tinto. In these conversations the Special Committee discussed views received from Rio Tinto on the leadership of the Company, including Rio Tinto’s view that new leadership at Turquoise Hill was necessary to advance work on matters of Mutual interest and importance to the project. Though Rio Tinto acknowledged that the appointment and termination of the CEO and other officers at Turquoise Hill are matters within the authority of the Board, it advised that, as the majority shareholder, Rio Tinto would not vote in favour of Mr. Quellmann’s election as a director at the Company’s upcoming annual and general meeting of shareholders in May 2021 if he were to be nominated.
Following the discussions held with Mr. Quellmann, the Board and Mr. Quellmann determined that it was in the best interests of the Company that Mr. Quellmann resign his positions as CEO and as a director of the Company.
The Board, on the recommendation of the Special Committee, has appointed Steeve Thibeault as Interim Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Thibeault served as the Company’s Chief Financial Officer between June 2014 and April 2017. Since April 2017, Mr. Thibeault has had no affiliation with either Turquoise Hill or Rio Tinto. Mr. Thibeault led the negotiations of the funding agreements for Turquoise Hill that the Company entered into with Rio Tinto in 2015. The Special Committee is confident that Mr. Thibeault is well positioned to immediately assume leadership of negotiations with Rio Tinto, progress the OT funding plan and oversee day-to-day operations of the Company while the Board engages in a process to identify a permanent Chief Executive Officer.

The Special Committee remains committed to ensuring that negotiations with Rio Tinto continue under its supervision with a view to arriving at a funding plan that is in the best interests of the Company.

About Turquoise Hill Resources
Turquoise Hill is an international mining company focused on the operation and continued development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia, which is the Company’s principal and only material mineral resource property. Turquoise Hill’s ownership of the Oyu Tolgoi mine is held through a 66% interest in Oyu Tolgoi LLC (Oyu Tolgoi); Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC, a Mongolian stateowned entity, holds the remaining 34% interest.