Source: Mongolian Mining Corporation, Reuters                       Date: 18 May, 2011

The Mongolian Mining Corporation (MMC) has revealed that the South Gobi Province Professional Inspection Agency has lifted the temporary suspension of coal hauling on the gravel road from the Tavan Tolgoi area to Tsagaan Khad. The suspension had been enforced on April 21, and lifted on May 14, after an inspection was satisfied with the improvements effected. The inspecting commission comprised experts from the General Agency for Specialized Inspection, the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the South Gobi Province Professional Inspection Agency, and officials of Tsogttsetsii, Khanbogd, and Bayan-Ovoo districts, through which the road passes.

Following the suspension, the MMC began work on improving the gravel road conditions, with help from coal miners also using the road. The results were checked once on May 6, and then again on May 13. On May 14, the company received a notification from the commission that users were free to resume coal hauling.

Maintenance work of the gravel road will continue until construction of the paved road is complete. This is expected to be by August this year and will enable uninterrupted and reliable coal logistics and transportation link from the Tavan Tolgoi area to the border between Mongolia and China.

Mongolia halted deliveries from the South Gobi on April 20 in a tit-for-tat move after China had technical problems with registering vehicles at the border, the chairman of the Mongolian Mining Club had said at the time. MMC now did not say what impact the trucking ban had had on the coal trade, although when the suspension was imposed, it said it had two weeks' worth of stockpiles that could keep customers supplied while the road was closed.