CPS International is a marketing arm of CPS Securities in Mongolia. CPS Securities is a Perth, Western Australia based AFSL License Holder. To trade ASX and international stocks, feel free to contact me at mogi@cpsinternational.mn or +976-99996779.
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.: Alert Issued About False and Misleading Statements Published by the Australian and Business Spectator
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA--(Marketwire - Sept. 15, 2010) - Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX:IVN)(NYSE:IVN)(NASDAQ:IVN) -
Editors and journalists are advised that stories published in The Australian newspaper on September 15, 2010, and on the Business Spectator website on September 14, 2010, contained false and misleading information concerning Ivanhoe Mines and the rapidly advancing Oyu Tolgoi mine development project.
Flouting fundamental, fair journalistic practice, none of the instances of conjecture and blinkered speculation presented as facts were checked with Ivanhoe Mines in advance of publication.
For example:
For example:
· The curiously similar claims by both publications that Ivanhoe Mines alone has delayed the selection of an arbitrator to evaluate a complaint by Rio Tinto are false. Ivanhoe has negotiated in good faith throughout the process in an effort to reach agreement on an arbitrator who is entirely independent of the parties and the issues to be considered in the arbitration. The truth is that Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto previously reached agreement on an arbitrator, but were unable to proceed because of a conflict later identified by the proposed arbitrator involving a company associated with Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto and Ivanhoe Mines subsequently have reached a tentative agreement on a new, independent arbitrator, subject to his clearance of conflicts, and Ivanhoe expects that the selection process will be concluded shortly.
· The claim that Ivanhoe Mines has stated that the cost to build and initiate operations at the first phase of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project will be US$4 billion is false. As Ivanhoe Mines announced on May 11, 2010, prominent, independent consultants estimated that the required investment during the next three years would be approximately US$4.6 billion – which includes a $1 billion investment on a portion of the phase-two development of the planned underground mine.
· The allegation by The Australian that Ivanhoe Mines is substantially underestimating the capital cost is glib editorializing, masqueraded as news, unsupported by any offered evidence and has no foundation in fact. The project is ahead of schedule and major contracts are within budget.
· The claim by the Business Spectator, that Ivanhoe Mines "purported to introduce" a shareholders' rights plan earlier this year, is just plain bizarre. It is a matter of unquestionable public record that the introduction of a rights plan was endorsed by 95% of the votes cast by minority shareholders at Ivanhoe's annual general meeting on May 7, 2010, in part to prevent a creeping takeover of the company.
· Rio Tinto is not limited to a 44% stake in Ivanhoe Mines under its current agreement; presently, it is eligible to acquire up to 46.65% of Ivanhoe's common shares.
The publication in question: Link to article
Railway freight rates raised
September 16 (news.mn) The Government Coordinating Agency has raised railway freight rates covering import, export and local transportation from September 25. Wood and wood products will be charged 20% more, oil products 10%, food items 25%, coal 25%, building materials 10%, household supplies 30%, and containers 30%.
CIVIL SERVANTS EXPECT SALARY RISE
September 16, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, /MONTSAME/ The cabinet meeting held on Wednesday made a decision to increase salaries of civil servants from October 1, 2010.
A 30-percent rise is expected in salaries' scale and their standard sizes, and the same increase will be observed in all types of allowances.
As of present, a civil servant is paid some MNT 323.0 thousand--a state administration worker receives approximately MNT 336.7 thousand, a civil service servant--MNT 321.3 thousand, and the state special service worker--MNT 310.0.
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Some 154 thousand civil servants will enjoy a salary rise
September 15 (MicroCapital.org) The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently announced it will conduct a microfinance institution tour in Mongolia from October 12 through October 14, 2010, with policymakers from Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan. The objective of the study tour is to introduce policymakers to best practices with the intention of enabling them to improve the legal framework for microfinance in their respective countries. The project is supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and will be led by the IFC’s Azerbaijan & Central Asia Microfinance Transformation Support Project, an IFC initiative which supports the transformation of microfinance credit organizations into banks.
Tour participants will analyze a successful transformation of a microfinance institution into a bank (Mogi: the microfinance institution turned bank in question is most probably Xac Bank (Khas Bank)), best practices and innovations in the microfinance sector and meet with senior government officials of Mongolia.
Mining projects in Mongolia ‘kicking off’
September 16 (ALB) Mongolia’s mining industry is taking off as projects involving state-owned enterprises and corporate investments fuel market activity, according to Hogan Lovells head of infrastructure and project finance Asia, James Harris.
The firm has received a steady stream of work from traditional E&R-rich jurisdictions such as Indonesia, Vietnam, China and India but more recently from Mongolia, Harris told ALB.
“We’ve been doing stuff with three types of clients: private sector developers, investors, buyers or sellers; lenders to these people; governments or governments assisted by a multilateral such as the World Bank, IFC or the Asian Development Bank (ADB),” he said. “The strongest countries would be – working from south to north – Indonesia, Vietnam, Philippines, China, Mongolia, and India to the east.”
Mongolian firm GTS Advocates has seen a similar increase in corporate and commercial transactions involving the mining community in the last 10-12 months. “Certainly we noticed the dramatic increase in investment in the mining sector in Mongolia. Most of these projects involve funding of operations from private companies,” GTS Advocates partner Batbayar Byambaa said.
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On 15 September 2010, Hogan Lovells also announced its appointment as legal adviser to state-owned mining company Erdenes MGL – the sole owner of the mining operations for the Tavan Tolgoi project in Mongolia. Often called the world’s biggest untapped coking coal deposit, Tavan Tolgoi holds a coal reserve of 6.5bn tonnes. The successful implementation of the Tavan Tolgoi project will be pivotal to a number of other projects in Mongolia, particularly in the rail and power sectors, and the proposed development of a major industrial park. As part of the appointment, Hogan Lovells will help Erdenes establish draft mining agreements which can be used for the development of the Tavan Talgoi coal deposit area and other future coal mine developments in Mongolia. It is expected that Hogan Lovells will also assist in the negotiation and finalisation of the mining agreements between Erdenes and the international private-sector participants in the project.
The Hogan Lovells team will be led by Ulaanbaatar-based Michael Aldrich and comprise of John Copper in London, Joseph Bell in Washington DC, James Harris in Singapore and Jamie Barr in Hong Kong.
Foreign debt now equals 29.5% of Mongolia’s GDP
September 16 (news.mn) Mongolia’s debts incurred in the socialist days are settled but the country continues to borrow. The loans it took from The Asian Development Bank, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and Japan between 1991 and 2009 now total USD2.6 billion. According to The Debt Department of the Finance Ministry, foreign debt consists 94% of the Government’s total debt, with domestic debt accounting for the remaining 6%.
Foreign loans can come from bilateral agreements with another country or from international financial institutions. Of Mongolia’s loans from individual countries, 56% is from Japan, 8% from South Korea, 4% from China and 6% from Kuwait. Of institutional loans, 58% is from The Asian Development Bank, 37% from The World Bank and 1% from The IMF. Besides this, USD118.7 billion received as grants and soft loans has been invested in infrastructure in the last two decades, USD883 million in the economic field, and USD141.8 million in social sectors.
…
The share of domestic debt has gone up as more bonds carrying higher interests were sold to meet the successive budget deficits. MNT300 billion worth of bonds were sold in 2009 and this equals 2.8% of the GDP. Earlier sales amounted to altogether MNT80 billion in 2005 and 2006, and to MNT150 billion in 2007.
This year’s bonds, mainly to provide for long-term apartment loans, will be on sale from September 17. They will be for a total face value of MNT30 billion. Half of it will be redeemable with 7.5% interest in 365 days and the other half with 7.8% interest in 546 days. All interest will be paid on maturity.
Japan-Mongolia relations “now ready to enter new areas like mines and minerals”
September 16 (news.mn) Kidokoro Takuo, the 12th Japanese Ambassador to Mongolia, answers questions on bilateral relations.
…
What future programs are under consideration? And what do you see in the future?
“Providing grass root security” annually spends USD100,000 distributed among the capital and the 21 aimags but considering the problems of Ulaanbaatar following the migration of people here from the countryside we now wish to concentrate on the capital.
Mongolia sent cashmere blankets and gloves when an earthquake hit Kobe in January, 1995 and after a later earthquake in the Niigata province, we received aid from workers at Power Station IV and a bus company where Japan had implemented projects. We were so happy.
The present bilateral relations are much wider than in 1973 or in 1994. We have been partners in politics, economics, education and culture, but this should now spread to technical and technological fields also, like mining and minerals.
…
Australia
| Close: Shares of Mongolia Related ASX Listed Companies, September 16, 2010 | ||||||||
| 0.850 | -0.020 | 0.850 | 0.860 | 0.850 | 0.860 | 0.850 | 153,860 | |
| 0.014 | 0.000 | 0.014 | 0.015 | 0.015 | 0.015 | 0.014 | 733,334 | |
| 0.185 | -0.005 | 0.190 | 0.195 | 0.190 | 0.190 | 0.185 | 305,000 | |
| 0.135 | 0.015 | 0.135 | 0.140 | 0.125 | 0.140 | 0.125 | 4,319,148 | |
| 0.130 | 0.005 | 0.125 | 0.130 | 0.130 | 0.130 | 0.120 | 1,153,000 | |
| 33.570 | -0.500 | 33.540 | 33.600 | 34.210 | 34.230 | 33.450 | 1,270,759 | |
| 73.790 | -1.510 | 73.780 | 73.810 | 75.420 | 75.450 | 73.680 | 3,872,181 | |
| 38.750 | -0.690 | 38.740 | 38.750 | 39.430 | 39.430 | 38.680 | 22,737,135 | |
Shares grind lower on profit-taking
September 16 (AAP) Australian shares fell today as the big miners sank on weaker metal prices, while James Hardie slumped after it warned analysts of declining market share.
At the close, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was down 56.2 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 4605.3, with losses accelerating in the afternoon. The broader All Ordinaries index eased 52.7 points, or 1.1 per cent, to 4650.
Among the sectors, materials fell 1.5 per cent, financials lost 1.7 per cent and industrials slipped 0.5 per cent. The only sector to post gains was gold, which rose 0.9 per cent on safe-haven buying.
need2know:
- European shares edge up in early trade
- Asian shares slip amid uncertainty
- The dollar slips to 93.5 US cents
- Oil drops to $US75 as US demand slows
- Gold inches up to $US1267
- Dow futures fall 49 points to 10,460
CMC Markets head of sales trading Matthew Lewis said the market couldn’t gather the strength to push higher, despite a positive lead from Wall Street overnight.
‘‘It was fair enough, considering the run-up we’ve had this week and a lack of any material developments overnight to spur buying activity,’’ Mr Lewis said. ‘‘We’ve seen the market break out of its range in the past few sessions, and given the downside risks, it wasn’t surprising to see a few profit-takers move in today.’’
Commodity prices sink
Softer commodities prices overnight saw BHP Billiton fall 69 cents, or 1.8 per cent, to $38.75 and Rio Tinto slip $1.51, or 2 per cent, to $73.79.
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"A high unemployment rate and ongoing mortgage foreclosure overhang makes it difficult to predict when a sustainable housing recovery (in US) will begin," the company said.
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Preliminary market turnover was 2.92 billion shares worth $8.44 billion, with 472 stocks up, 621 down and 375 unchanged.
Global
Asian Stocks Fall, Led by Banks, Mining Shares; Toyota Advances
Sept. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell for a second day as declines among banks and mining companies overshadowed speculation Japan will take more steps to weaken the yen.
China Construction Bank Corp. slid 0.6 percent in Hong Kong on concern Chinese lenders will have to boost their capital adequacy ratios. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s largest mining company, lost 1.8 percent in Sydney after commodity prices declined. Toyota Motor Corp., the world’s largest automaker, advanced 1.7 percent in Tokyo as Prime Minister Naoto Kan pledged “decisive measures” on the yen following intervention yesterday in the currency market.
More than two stocks fell for each one that advanced in the MSCI Asia Pacific Index, which lost 0.5 percent to 123.39 as of 5:09 p.m. in Tokyo. Japan’s Nikkei 225 Stock Average declined 0.1 percent, erasing a 1.1 percent climb, even after Kan said his government won’t tolerate “rapid movements” of the yen.
“There’s still a great deal of uncertainty,” said Tim Schroeders, who helps manage about $1 billion at Pengana Capital Ltd. in Melbourne. “The jury’s out as to whether the yen measures being put in place are successful or not. Anyone looking at a possible investment in China may sit on the sidelines a bit longer as various measures are implemented.”
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dropped 0.2 percent, while China’s Shanghai Composite Index slumped 1.9 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index sank 1.2 percent. South Korea’s Kospi index declined 0.7 percent.
Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost 0.5 percent. The index rose 0.4 percent yesterday in New York.
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BHP lost 1.8 percent to A$38.75 in Sydney, the biggest drag on the MSCI Asia Pacific Index. Posco, the world’s third-biggest steelmaker, fell 2.3 percent to 512,000 won in Seoul.
Cnooc Ltd., China’s largest offshore oil explorer, slipped 1.1 percent to HK$14.60 in Hong Kong. Inpex Corp., Japan’s biggest energy explorer, declined 3.8 percent to 396,000 yen in Tokyo. The company was downgraded to “neutral” from “buy” at UBS AG.
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U.S. home prices may have another three years to go before prices bottom because as many as 12 million more properties from defaults or foreclosures may be added to the market, according to analysts from Moody’s Analytics Inc., Fannie Mae, Morgan Stanley and Barclays Plc. U.S. initial jobless claims and producer price index reports are due later today.
“There’s not going to be a double-dip recession in the United States but we’re going to see a fairy tepid recovery,” said Pengana’s Schroeders. “The aftershocks of the global financial crisis are real and we need to see long-term strategic restructuring of some economies to accommodate what’s happened.”
Misc
Russian-Mongolian maneuvers Darkhan-3 completed
The Russian-Mongolian tactical exercises 'Darkhan-3' that were launched September 1 at the military maneuver ground 'Burduny' of the Siberian Military District in the Republic of Buryatia, RF, came to a close on Wednesday.
According to the press service of the Siberian Military District, Commander Land Forces of Russia, Alexander Postnikov, and Minister of Defense of Mongolia, Luvsanvandan Bold, considered the assigned tasks well performed: "The maneuvers ended with a good result."
Repair groups carried out complex missions of recovery and repair of more than 30 pieces of weapons and military equipment for educational and practical purposes.
About a thousand troops and about 200 units of the armed forces of Russia and Mongolia were involved in the exercises. At the moment, the Mongolian Armed Forces units are entraining the materiel and preparing for departure to the sites of their permanent deployment.
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"Mogi" Munkhdul Badral
Executive Director
CPS International
Email: mogi@cpsinternational.mn
Mobile: +976-99996779
CPS International is a marketing arm of CPS Securities in Mongolia. CPS Securities is a Perth, Western Australia based AFSL License Holder. To trade ASX and international stocks, feel free to contact me at mogi@cpsinternational.mn or +976-99996779.
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