Source: The Sydney Morning Herald                   Date: 05 August, 2010

Mongolia's coal sector could rob Australia of its global market share, Canadian billionaire mining executive Robert Friedland has warned. Mr. Friedland, Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines and its 90 per cent owned Ivanhoe Australia Ltd, said "Mongolia could kill Australian coal" because its 25% mining tax was lower than the 30% proposed  in Australia.

Ivanhoe Mines' 79 percent-owned coal company South Gobi Energy Resources Ltd. is the largest coal producer in Mongolia in terms of export sales. Mongolia has a clear advantage in that it neighbors its Chinese customers. "They're closer to China than your lucky island," Mr. Friedland told the Diggers and Dealers mining conference in Western Australia on Wednesday.

Mr. Friedland said Oyu Tolgoi had an after-tax net value of USD16 trillion at recent metal prices.