mine · Mongolia

Oyu Tolgoi

A giant copper-gold operation whose underground block cave makes it a top-five global copper mine.

OperatingUnderground ramp-upProject score 82

Operator

Rio Tinto

Country

Mongolia

Mine life

35 yrs

Capex

$7.0B

Profile

Resource, economics and jurisdiction

Resource: Very large copper-gold porphyry resource with decades of mine life.
Production: Rising toward 500 kt of copper annually from the underground.
Economics: Long life and rising grade profile through the 2030s.
Infrastructure: Dedicated power import lines, sealed road and airstrip in the Gobi.
Jurisdiction: Moderate risk
Ownership: Rio Tinto 66%, Government of Mongolia 34%
Region: South Gobi

Overview

A giant copper-gold operation whose underground block cave makes it a top-five global copper mine.

Methodology

Version v0.1

Resource Quality: 83 (weight 1.2) — Grade, continuity and metallurgical complexity of the resource.
Project Scale: 91 (weight 1) — Annual output potential relative to the global market for its primary mineral.
Development Stage: 80 (weight 0.9) — How far the asset has advanced toward or through production.
Jurisdiction: 86 (weight 1.1) — Political stability, permitting predictability and rule of law.
Infrastructure: 85 (weight 0.9) — Access to power, water, transport and processing capacity.
Economics: 82 (weight 1.2) — Cost position and margin resilience through the price cycle.
Strategic Importance: 86 (weight 1) — Relevance to national critical mineral strategies and allied supply chains.
Supply-Chain Value: 82 (weight 1) — Whether the asset relieves a genuine downstream bottleneck.
Sustainability: 80 (weight 0.9) — Carbon intensity, water use, tailings approach and community standing.
Execution Risk: 74 (weight 1) — Technical, financing and schedule risk to reaching nameplate output. Higher is lower risk.

Materials

Copper is the primary conductor of the electrified economy, used wherever electricity or heat must move efficiently.

Assets

The largest underground copper mine in the world, in operation for over a century.

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A giant copper-gold complex transitioning from open pit to large-scale block cave mining.

A large copper-gold development in the Vicuna district of the high Andes.

The highest-grade major copper mine in the world, powered largely by hydroelectricity.

A very large copper-cobalt operation whose output decisions move the global cobalt market.