Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. (“Turquoise Hill” or the “Company”) today announced its financial results for the period ended September 30, 2021. All figures are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise stated.
“Oyu Tolgoi produced solid operating results in the third quarter. Copper production of 41,935 tonnes was up 16% year-over-year and 14% relative to Q2’21. The mine also produced 130,799 ounces of gold in the quarter,
an increase of 256% compared to the same quarter last year and 16% more than was produced in Q2’21.
Revenue for the quarter was $622.8 million, an increase of 135.6% from Q3’20 revenue of $264.4 million.
Thanks to the hard work of the Oyu Tolgoi team, and despite the difficult environment created by COVID-19,
we are on track to meet our production guidance for 2021. All technical undercut readiness activities to begin underground production have been completed and Oyu Tolgoi has been ready from a technical perspective to
commence the undercut since July 2021.”
Stated Steve Thibeault, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Turquoise Hill Resources.
“While the COVID-19 situation in Mongolia is improving slightly, Oyu Tolgoi is maintaining rigorous anti-COVID
protocols at site to ensure the health of our employees. Currently 100% of the Oyu Tolgoi workforce has been
double vaccinated and a campaign to administer a third dose is advancing well.”
FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
• Oyu Tolgoi open-pit and underground workforce posted an AIFR of 0.13 per 200,000 hours worked for the nine months ended September 30, 2021.
• In Q3’21, Oyu Tolgoi produced 41,935 tonnes of copper and 130,799 ounces of gold.
• Mill throughput of 9.3 million tonnes in Q3’21 was in line with Q2’21 and 7% lower than Q3’20. Processing
of harder ore as well as lower SAG mill availability, due to maintenance, impacted Q3’21 mill throughput.
• Despite significant COVID-19 related challenges at the Oyu Tolgoi mine site, causing the site to operate
at less than 50% of its planned personnel for Q3’21, 2021 production guidance remainson track and some
underground progress has been made with the restart of Shaft 4 sinking and commencement of no-load
Material Handling System 1 (MHS1) commissioning in October 2021.
• Revenue of $622.8 million in Q3’21 increased 135.6% from $264.4 million in Q3’20. Both copper and gold
volumes increased by 34.9% and 338.2%, respectively, driven by the scheduled move to the higher gradeareas of Phase 4B. Average copper prices were 43.8% higher and average gold prices were 6.3% lower
than Q3’20.
• Income for the period was $22.9 million in Q3’21 compared with $161.7 million in Q3’20, reflecting the
impact of a $299.9 million deferred tax asset de-recognition in Q3’21 (Q3’20: recognition of $131.1 million),
which resulted mainly from underground delays as well as a $34.8 million increase in operating cash costs1
due mainly to higher royalty costs from increased sales revenue, additional COVID-19 related costs and
higher consumption and power costs, partially offset by lower power study costs. These unfavourable
movements were further offset by a $323.6 million increase in gross margin due to the increased revenue.
Income attributable to owners of Turquoise Hill in Q3’21 was $34.9 million ($0.17 per share) vs $128.6
million ($0.64 per share) in Q3’20.
• Cost of sales was $1.98 per pound of copper sold and C1 cash costs1 were negative $0.65 per pound of
copper produced. All-in sustaining costs1 were $0.03 per pound of copper produced.
• Total operating cash costs1 of $216.2 million in Q3’21 increased 19.2% from $181.4 million in Q3’20, due
primarily to higher royalty costs from increased sales revenue, additional COVID-19 related costs and
higher consumption and power costs, partially offset by lower power study costs.
• Underground capital spend in Q3’21 was $200.6 million, including $63.7 million of underground sustaining
capital. Total underground capital spend since January 1, 2016 was $5.1 billion, including $0.3 billion of
underground sustaining capital, as of September 30, 2021. Given the total underground development
spend of $4.8 billion and contractual obligations of $0.4 billion as at September 30, 2021, Oyu Tolgoi is
expected to reach the total $5.3 billion underground development (actual spend plus contractual
obligations) as stated in the original 2016 feasibility study, during November 2021. In the event that the
necessary additional investment to progress underground development is not supported by all directors of
the OT LLC board by the end of November 2021, OT LLC will be at risk of having to slow down further work on the underground development.
• Cash generated from operating activities was $350.6 million in Q3’21 vs $77.6 million in Q3’20, reflecting
a $261.9 million improvement in cash generated from operating activities before interest and tax, which
resulted from a $323.6 million increase in gross margin from increased sales revenue, partially offset by
unfavourable movements in working capital1 and deferred revenue. Deferred revenue decreased in Q3’21
mainly due to exceptionally high deferred revenue at June 30, 2021, which was impacted by the timing of
ramp-up in concentrate shipments during Q2’21 following the declaration of force majeure as well as
related contingency measures that were put in place during Q2’21 to improve Oyu Tolgoi’s short-term
liquidity that started to be unwound during Q3’21. Deferred revenue increased in Q3’20.
• Oyu Tolgoi concentrate shipment volumes to customers improved during Q3’21, compared to Q2’21;
however, above target inventory levels remained at the end of Q3’21, reflecting the impact of COVID-19
related Mongolian / Chinese border restrictions, which resulted in force majeure being declared since
March 30, 2021. Shipments to Chinese customers recommenced on April 15, 2021, and Oyu Tolgoi LLC
(OT LLC) continues to work closely with the Mongolian and Chinese authorities to manage any supply
chain disruptions. The force majeure will remain in place until there are sufficiently sustained volumes of
convoys crossing the border to ensure OT LLC’s ability to meet its ongoing commitments to customers
and to return on-site concentrate inventory to target levels.
1 Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 21 of this press release for further information .
• All technical undercut readiness activities have been completed, and Oyu Tolgoi has been ready from a
technical perspective to commence the undercut since July 2021. Undercut commencement remains
delayed and is pending resolution of certain non-technical undercut criteria, including the support of all OT
LLC Board directors to increase the underground development capital investment and to commence
discussions with the project finance lenders, obtaining outstanding required regulatory approvals and
agreeing on a pathway to meet OT LLC’s long-term power requirements, all of which are critical elements
for consideration to proceed with the decision to commence the undercut and remain the subject of
ongoing discussions. See the section of this press release titled “Negotiations with the Government of Mongolia”.
• As a result of the cumulative and ongoing impacts of COVID-19, continued delayed commitments from the
Definitive Estimate not having received the support of all directors of the OT LLC Board, as well as the
outstanding unresolved non-technical undercut issues, the Company now expects sustainable production
for Panel 0 to be delayed to H1’23, broadly in line with the currently forecast 6-month delay to undercut commencement.
• Progress on Shafts 3 and 4 has been impacted by quarantine requirements and international travel
restrictions related to COVID-19. As a result, no significant development progress on these shafts was
made during Q3’21. Consequently, OT LLC has advised that a 9-month delay on Shafts 3 and 4 is currently
forecast which, in combination with a COVID-related reduction in underground development progress as
well as expected changes to mining scope, is currently forecast to delay the initiation of Panel 2 by
approximately 14-16 months compared to the Definitive Estimate. Panel 1 is currently forecast to be
impacted to a lesser extent with an approximate commencement 11 months later than the Definitive
Estimate. These delays are expected to extend the ramp up to 95,000 tpd by a similar timeframe. Efforts
to minimize the delays to Panel 1 and Panel 2 due to ventilation constraints ahead of Shaft 3 and 4
commissioning continue. See the section of this press release titled “Oyu Tolgoi Underground Update”.
• Turquoise Hill’s current estimate of its base case incremental funding requirement is $3.6 billion (June 30,
2021: $2.4 billion). The increase reflects preliminary information provided by OT LLC primarily regarding the delay to the initiation of the undercut.
• As at September 30, 2021, Turquoise Hill has $0.8 billion of available liquidity, which under current
projections is expected to meet the Company’s requirements, including funding of underground capital
expenditure, into Q3’22.
OPERATIONAL OUTLOOK FOR 2021
Oyu Tolgoi’s copper and gold production guidance for 2021 remains within the ranges of 150,000 to 180,000
tonnes of copper and 400,000 to 480,000 ounces of gold, respectively.
Operating cash costs2 for 2021 are still expected to be within the range of $800 million to $850 million.
Capital expenditure for 2021 on a cash-basis has been reduced to $80 million to $100 million from $105 million
to $125 million for the open-pit and to $0.8 billion to $0.9 billion from $0.9 billion to $1.0 billion for the
underground, including underground sustaining capital expenditure, caused mainly by the impact of the delayed undercut commencement and the on-going impacts of on-site COVID-19 restrictions. Open pit capital
is mainly comprised of deferred stripping, equipment purchases, tailings storage facility construction and
maintenance componentization. Underground capital is inclusive of VAT.
2021 C1 cash costs3 are expected to be in the range of negative $0.20 to positive $0.20 per pound of copper
produced. Unit cost guidance assumes the midpoint of the expected 2021 copper and gold production ranges and a gold price of $1,804 per ounce.
2 Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 21 of this press release for further information.
OUR BUSINESS
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. The Company’s ownership of the Oyu Tolgoi mine is held through a 66% interest in OT LLC; the
remaining 34% interest is held by Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC (Erdenes), a Mongolian state-owned entity.
The Oyu Tolgoi property is located approximately 550 kilometres south of Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital city,
and 80 kilometres north of the Mongolia-China border. The property is cut by the Oyu Tolgoi trend, a 12
kilometres north-south orientated corridor which is host to the known deposits, Hugo North, Hugo South, Oyut
and Heruga. Open pit mining operations commenced at Oyut in 2013. The Hugo North deposit (Lift 1) is
currently being developed as an underground operation.
The copper concentrator plant, with related facilities and necessary infrastructure, was originally designed to
process approximately 100,000 tonnes of ore per day from the Oyut open-pit. However, since 2014, the
concentrator has consistently achieved a throughput of over 105,000 tonnes per day due to improvements in
operating practices. Concentrator throughput for 2021 is targeted at over 110,000 tonnes per day and expected
to be approximately 40 million tonnes for the year due to improvements in concentrator performance and more favourable ore characteristics.
At the end of Q3’21, Oyu Tolgoi had a total workforce (employees and contractors), including for underground
project construction, of approximately 14,000 workers, of which over 96% were Mongolian.
3 Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 21 of this press release for further information.
SELECTED FINANCIAL METRICS (1)
(1) Any financial information in this press release should be reviewed in conjunction with the Company‘s consolidated financial statements or condensed
interim consolidated financial statements for the reporting periods indicated. (2) Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 21 of this press release for further information.
Q3’21 vs. Q3’20
• Revenue of $622.8 million in Q3’21 increased 135.6% from $264.4 million in Q3’20. Both copper and gold
volumes increased, by 34.9% and 338.2% respectively. This was driven by the scheduled move to the
higher grade areas of Phase 4B. Average copper prices were 43.8% higher and average gold prices were
6.3% lower than Q3’20.
• Income for the period was $22.9 million in Q3’21 compared with $161.7 million in Q3’20, reflecting the
impact of a $299.9 million deferred tax asset de-recognition in Q3’21 (Q3’20: recognition of $131.1 million),
which resulted mainly from underground delays as well as a $34.8 million increase in operating cash costs4
due mainly to higher royalty costs from increased sales revenues, additional COVID-19 related costs and
higher consumption and power costs, partially offset by lower power study costs. These unfavourable
4 Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 21 of this press release for further information.
Three months ended Nine months ended
3Q 3Q Change 3Q 3Q Change
2021 2020 % 2021 2020 %
Revenue 622.8 264.4 135.6% 1,467.1 673.1 118.0%
Income (loss) for the period 22.9 161.7 -- 473.9 253.0 --
Income (loss) attributable to owners of Turquoise Hill 34.9 128.6 -- 368.5 246.4 --
Basic and diluted income (loss) per share attributable to owners of Turquoise Hill 0.17 0.64 -- 1.83 1.22 --
Revenue by metals in concentrates - - -
Copper 362.7 198.7 82.5% 883.8 517.3 70.8%
Gold 254.3 61.1 316.2% 570.0 145.3 292.3%
Silver 5.8 4.6 26.1% 13.3 10.5 26.7%
Cost of sales 202.7 168.0 20.7% 440.9 495.9 (11.1%)
Production and delivery costs 152.6 125.7 21.4% 317.4 367.5 (13.6%)
Depreciation and depletion 50.1 42.2 18.7% 123.5 128.3 (3.7%)
Capital expenditure on cash basis 216.9 254.5 (14.8%) 697.4 817.5 (14.7%)
Underground-Development 136.9 203.2 (32.6%) 479.5 733.7 (34.6%)
Underground-Sustaining 63.7 38.9 63.8% 174.5 49.9 249.7%
Open pit 16.3 12.4 31.5% 43.4 33.9 28.0%
Proceeds from pre-production revenue (39.3) (18.5) 112.4% (51.3) (26.1) 96.6%
Royalties 37.6 15.5 142.6% 82.8 40.0 107.0%
Operating cash costs (2) 216.2 181.4 19.2% 627.9 550.3 14.1%
Unit costs ($)
Cost of sales (per pound of copper sold) 1.98 2.22 (10.8%) 1.90 2.25 (15.6%)
C1 (per pound of copper produced) (2) (0.65) 1.48 143.9% 0.06 1.72 (96.5%)
All-in sustaining (per pound of copper produced) (2) 0.03 1.88 (98.4%) 0.63 2.13 (70.4%)
Mining costs (per tonne of material mined) (2) 2.08 1.93 7.6% 2.20 1.78 23.6%
Milling costs (per tonne of ore treated) (2) 8.01 5.90 35.8% 7.10 6.06 17.2%
G&A costs (per tonne of ore treated) 3.63 2.98 22.0% 4.02 3.05 31.8%
Cash generated from (used in) operating activities 350.6 77.6 351.8% 426.7 (28.6) 1,592.0%
Cash generated from operating activities before interest and tax 351.1 89.2 293.6% 895.0 125.4 613.7%
Interest paid 0.9 0.7 28.6% 111.9 146.2 (23.5%)
Total assets 13,908 13,087 6.3% 13,908 13,087 6.3%
Total non-current financial liabilities 4,422 4,390 0.7% 4,422 4,390 0.7%
(1) Any financial information in this press release should be reviewed in conjunction with the Company‘s consolidated financial statements or condensed
interim consolidated financial statements for the reporting periods indicated. (2) Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 21 of this press release for further information.
Q3’21 vs. Q3’20
• Revenue of $622.8 million in Q3’21 increased 135.6% from $264.4 million in Q3’20. Both copper and gold
volumes increased, by 34.9% and 338.2% respectively. This was driven by the scheduled move to the
higher grade areas of Phase 4B. Average copper prices were 43.8% higher and average gold prices were
6.3% lower than Q3’20.
• Income for the period was $22.9 million in Q3’21 compared with $161.7 million in Q3’20, reflecting the
impact of a $299.9 million deferred tax asset de-recognition in Q3’21 (Q3’20: recognition of $131.1 million),
which resulted mainly from underground delays as well as a $34.8 million increase in operating cash costs4
due mainly to higher royalty costs from increased sales revenues, additional COVID-19 related costs and
higher consumption and power costs, partially offset by lower power study costs. These unfavourable movements were further offset by a $323.6 million increase in gross margin due to the increased revenue.
Income attributable to owners of Turquoise Hill in Q3’21 was $34.9 million ($0.17 per share,) vs $128.6
million ($0.64 per share) in Q3’20.
4 Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 21 of this press release for further information.
• Cost of sales of $202.7 million in Q3’21 increased 20.7% from $168.0 million in Q3’20, reflecting a 33.7%
increase in volumes of concentrate sold driven by a 13.9% increase in volumes of concentrates produced
and also improvement in Q3’21 shipping rates following introduction of measures to help mitigate the
impact of the COVID-19 border restrictions that resulted in declaration of force majeure during Q1’21.
• Capital expenditure on a cash basis was $216.9 million in Q3’21 compared to $254.5 million in Q3’20,
comprised of $200.6 million (Q3’20: $242.1 million) in underground capital spend, including $63.7 million
in underground sustaining capital (Q3’20: $38.9 million), and $16.3 million (Q3’20: $12.4 million) in openpit sustaining capital expenditure.
• Total operating cash costs5 of $216.2 million in Q3’21 increased 19.2% from $181.4 million in Q3’20,
principally due to an increase in royalty costs driven by higher revenue as well as additional costs
associated with the implementation of increased COVID-19 safety measures and controls. Further, higher
consumption and power costs were partially offset by lower power study costs.
• Unit cost of sales of $1.98 per pound of copper sold in Q3’21 decreased 10.8% from $2.22 per pound of
copper sold in Q3’20, reflecting fixed cost efficiencies from higher metal production as well as higher
copper grade and recovery from the scheduled mining progression to the higher grade areas of Phase 4B.
• Oyu Tolgoi’s C1 cash costs5 of negative $0.65 per pound of copper produced in Q3’21 decreased from
$1.48 per pound of copper produced in Q3’20, primarily reflecting the impact of a $193.2 million increase
in gold revenue.
• All-in sustaining costs5 of $0.03 per pound of copper produced in Q3’21 decreased from $1.88 per pound
of copper produced in Q3’20. Similar to the decrease in C1 cash costs5
, this decrease primarily reflects
the impact of the higher gold revenues but, unlike C1 cash costs5
, was partially offset by the impact of
increased royalty costs due to higher sales revenue.
• Mining costs5 of $2.08 per tonne of material mined in Q3’21 increased 7.6% from $1.93 per tonne of
material mined in Q3’20. The increase was mainly due to lower material mined due to lower manning
levels caused by COVID-19 related controls and restrictions, increased cycle times caused by mining
deeper into the open-pit, higher spend on consumables and fuel driven by market price increases, partially
offset by lower maintenance costs due to the lower manning levels.
• Milling costs5 of $8.01 per tonne of ore treated in Q3’21 increased 35.8% from $5.90 per tonne of ore
treated in Q3’20. This increase was mainly due to lower milled ore and higher consumables and power
costs caused by the processing of harder, higher grade Phase 4B ore in lieu of softer ore from Phase 6B
and stockpiles.
• G&A costs of $3.63 per tonne of ore treated in Q3’21 increased 22.0% from $2.98 per tonne of ore treated
in Q3’20. This increase was mainly due to lower amounts of ore treated as well as higher insurance and COVID-19 related costs.
5 Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 21 of this press release for further information.
• Cash generated from operating activities was $350.6 million in Q3’21 vs $77.6 million in Q3’20, reflecting
a $261.9 million improvement in cash generated from operating activities before interest and tax, which
resulted from a $323.6 million increase in gross margin from increased sales revenue, partially offset by
unfavourable movements in working capital6 and deferred revenue. Deferred revenue decreased in Q3’21
mainly due to exceptionally high deferred revenue at June 30, 2021, which was impacted by the timing of
ramp-up in concentrate shipments during Q2’21 following the declaration of force majeure as well as
related contingency measures that were put in place during Q2’21 to improve Oyu Tolgoi’s short-term
liquidity that started to be unwound during Q3’21. Deferred revenue increased in Q3’20.
OYU TOLGOI
Operations, Safety Performance and COVID-19 Update
The Oyu Tolgoi open-pit and underground workforce posted an AIFR of 0.13 per 200,000 hours worked for
the nine months ended September 30, 2021, which represents an improvement from the six months ended 30
June 2021.
During Q3’21, Mongolia continued to experience a significant number of COVID-19 cases, which continued to
limit the ability of Oyu Tolgoi to maintain normal roster changes for its workers. While Oyu Tolgoi did experience
an improvement in on-site personnel numbers vs Q2’21, average workforce numbers remained below 50% of
planned requirements during Q3’21.
COVID-19 restrictions have adversely impacted both open-pit operations and underground development,
which, through the end of Q3’21 and as announced on October 14, 2021, have resulted in a cumulative
increase of $140 million to the estimate of underground development capital included in the Definitive Estimate.
This increase includes the currently known, incremental and time-related costs of COVID-19 restrictions
through September 30,2021; however, it does not include any impacts arising from associated schedule delays
or delayed commitments caused by the Definitive Estimate not yet having received the support of all the
directors of the OT LLC Board, as these are still under assessment. The Company will continue to monitor
these costs and will update the market as appropriate.
All workers at the Oyu Tolgoi site have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, and a third dose program is
well advanced. Improvements in quarantine protocols both on-site and off-site have resulted in a relaxation of
restrictions, which resulted in higher workforce numbers in September 2021 while still minimising the spread
of COVID-19. A return to normal workforce levels is expected by the end of 2021, and Oyu Tolgoi will continue
to cooperate with the Mongolian authorities to implement and maintain control measures to protect the health
and well-being of its workers as well as the local community.
6 Please refer to Section – NON-GAAP MEASURES – on page 21 of this press release for further information.
Selected Operational Metrics
Oyu Tolgoi Production Data
All data represents full production and sales on a 100% basis
In Q3’21, both copper and gold production from the open-pit were higher vs Q3’20 due mainly to mining higher
grade material from Phase 4B. Mill throughput of 9.34 million tonnes in Q3’21 was in line with Q2’21 and 7%
lower than Q3’20. Processing of harder ore as well as lower SAG mill availability, due to maintenance,
impacted Q3’21 mill throughput.
Oyu Tolgoi provided an updated mine plan reflecting the impacts of the mine redesign in response to previously
disclosed open-pit geotechnical events, which is currently forecast to result in deferral of some open-pit metal
to beyond 2024. In addition, the on-going impacts of on-site COVID-19 restrictions, have resulted in delayed
waste movement thereby impacting short term operations. While opportunities to reduce the impact of this
forecast metal deferral are under consideration, related work is not expected to be completed until H1’22.
3Q 3Q Change 9 months 9 months Change
2021 2020 2021 2020
Open pit material mined (‘000 tonnes) 22,588 23,979 (5.8%) 61,005 74,032 (17.6%)
Ore treated (‘000 tonnes) 9,336 10,072 (7.3%) 28,550 30,606 (6.7%)
Average mill head grades:
Copper (%) 0.53 0.45 17.8% 0.52 0.45 15.6%
Gold (g/t) 0.63 0.21 200.0% 0.60 0.18 233.3%
Silver (g/t) 1.29 1.22 5.7% 1.26 1.19 5.9%
Concentrates produced (‘000 tonnes) 191.9 168.5 13.9% 567.0 502.9 12.7%
Average concentrate grade (% Cu) 21.9 21.5 1.9% 21.9 21.5 1.9%
Production of metals in concentrates:
Copper (‘000 tonnes) 41.9 36.3 15.4% 124.1 108.0 14.9%
Gold (‘000 ounces) 131 37 254.1% 390 94 314.9%
Silver (‘000 ounces) 249 219 13.7% 739 645 14.6%
Concentrate sold (‘000 tonnes) 224.4 167.9 33.7% 503.3 488.1 3.1%
Sales of metals in concentrates:
Copper (‘000 tonnes) 46.4 34.4 34.9% 105.0 99.9 5.1%
Gold (‘000 ounces) 149 34 338.2% 333 84 296.4%
Silver (‘000 ounces) 278 201 38.3% 591 566 4.4%
Metal recovery (%)
Copper 83.9 78.9 6.3% 83.6 77.4 8.0%
Gold 68.7 53.7 27.9% 70.3 51.0 37.8%
Silver 64.1 54.6 17.4% 64.0 54.0 18.5%
Oyu Tolgoi Underground Update
All technical undercut readiness activities have been completed, and Oyu Tolgoi has been ready from a
technical perspective to commence the undercut since July 2021. Undercut commencement remains delayed
and is pending resolution of certain non-technical undercut criteria, including the support of all OT LLC Board
Directors to increase the underground development capital investment and to commence discussions with the
project finance lenders, obtaining outstanding required regulatory approvals and agreeing on a pathway to
meet OT LLC’s long-term power requirements, all of which are critical elements for consideration to proceed
with the decision to commence the undercut and remain the subject of ongoing discussions.
During Q3’21, underground development progress continued to be significantly impacted by COVID-19
constraints on-site and in Mongolia, including restrictions on movement of both domestic and international
expertise. Despite these constraints, breakthrough of the conveyor decline was achieved in August 2021,
sinking of Shaft 4 recommenced in mid-October 2021, and preparatory work for Shaft 3 sinking continued.
Breakthrough of the service decline is forecast in November 2021.
MHS1 construction is almost complete with no-load commissioning commencing in Q3’21 and is currently
expected to be completed by the end of January 2022. Construction of the first on-footprint truck chute is well
advanced and currently forecast to be completed by February 2022. Completion of both MHS1 and the first
on-footprint truck chute is broadly in-line with the Definitive Estimate, a positive result given the challenging
circumstances. Nevertheless, given the cumulative and on-going impacts of COVID-19, continued delayed
commitments from the Definitive Estimate not yet having received the support of all directors of the OT LLC
Board, as well as the outstanding unresolved non-technical undercut issues, the Company now expects
sustainable production for Panel 0 to be delayed to H1’23, broadly in line with the current forecast 6-month
delay to undercut commencement.
Progress on Shafts 3 and 4 has been impacted by quarantine requirements and international travel restrictions
related to COVID-19. As a result, no significant development progress on these shafts was made during Q3’21.
Consequently, OT LLC has advised that a 9-month delay on Shafts 3 and 4 is currently forecast which, in
combination with a COVID- related reduction in underground development progress as well as expected
changes to mining scope, is currently forecast to delay the initiation of Panel 2 by approximately 14 – 16
months compared to the Definitive Estimate. Panel 1 is currently forecast to be impacted to a lesser extent
with an approximate commencement 11 months later than the Definitive Estimate. These delays are expected
to extend the ramp up to 95,000 tpd by a similar timeframe. Efforts to minimize the delays to Panel 1 and Panel
2 due to ventilation constraints ahead of Shaft 3 and 4 commissioning continue.
As at the end of Q3’21, cumulative* underground development progress was 60,085 equivalent metres (eqm)
and cumulative* Conveyor to Surface advancement was 15,174 eqm. It is anticipated that development rates
will continue to be impacted into Q4’21.
Oyu Tolgoi Underground Project Development Progress Excluding Conveyor Declines**
Year Total Equivalent Development (Km) Lateral Development (Km) Mass Excavation
('000’ m3 )
2016 1.6 1.5 3.0
Q1'17 1.0 0.8 5.2
Q2'17 1.4 0.9 9.2
Q3'17 1.4 1.2 8.3
Q4'17 2.2 1.9 8.9
2017 6.1 4.8 31.6
Q1'18 2.6 2.1 11.6
Q2'18 2.4 2.1 8.6
Q3'18 3.0 2.1* 23.3*
Q4'18 2.3 1.6 16.0
2018 10.3 7.9 59.5
Q1'19 3.2 2.3 21.4
Q2'19 3.2 2.4 19.3
Q3'19 3.6 3.2 11.4
Q4'19 4.8 4.5 9.0
2019 14.9 12.4 61.1
Q1’20 5.5 5.3 3.2
Q2’20 5.5 5.1 10.6
Q3’20 4.7 4.1 14.3
Q4’20 4.2 3.8 8.5
2020 19.9 18.4 36.6
Q1’21 3.5 2.9 13.5
Q2’21 1.7 1.2 11.6
Q3’21 2.2 1.8 8.1
Total 60.1 51.0 225.2
Notes:
Totals may not match due to rounding.
* Lateral development and mass excavation amounts for Q3’18 have been updated to reflect revised results.
** Excludes Conveyor Declines but includes sustaining capital development metres in the quarter.
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