Source:Reuters                         Date: 14 September, 2011

Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi's initial public offering will be delayed until the end of the first quarter of 2012 at the earliest, said Prime Minister S. Batbold. In addition to the coal mining company, Mongolia will list its state-owned rail road company, Mongolia Railway, to help raise capital. The state-owned firm Tavan Tolgoi owns the entirety of Tavan Tolgoi's Eastern Tsankhi site. It's Western Tsankhi has been divided between the Chinese Shenhua, the U.S. Peabody Energy, and a Mongolian-Russian consortium, but that decision is now being contested..

"The final investment agreement will take into consideration the interests of our two neighbors (Chinaand Russia)," Batbold said.

The government has previously announced that listing would take place before 2012, but now it seems that decision will be delayed. The Mongolian government is considering listing the coal mining firm under the Mongolian Stock Exchange (MSE), the London Stock Exchange, (LSE), and the Hong Kong Exchange (HKE). Batbold said the government plans to list 49 percent of Mongolian Railway to help fund its plans to develop the mine and transportation infrastructure, but did not say under which market. The government said it will build additional rail lines linking Tavan Tolgoi to both the Chinese and Russian border.

Tavan Tolgoi is the world's largest untapped coking coal deposit with an estimated 6 billion tons of coal resources. The Mongolia's decision to divide the Western Tsankhi between China, the United States, and Russia is now being contested to possibly allow South Korea and Japan to participate in operations.