Source: Dow Jones                         Date: 27 July, 2011

Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs says there have been recent high-level talks with Mongolia over the role of Japanese companies in developing the country's huge mineral reserves, but there was no official complaint from Tokyo about the bidding for the project.

"We have not confirmed if Japanese companies are indeed excluded in the first place," a ministry official said. "We are still trying to find out."

Separately, a senior Mongolian government official last week said that talks were continuing. "The Japanese and the Koreans are unhappy and are working to get themselves in," he said.