Turquoise Hill Resources

Overview

Oyu Tolgoi Project website

Oyu Tolgoi is one of the world's largest new copper-gold mines and is located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, approximately 550 km south of the capital, Ulaanbaatar, and 80 km north of the Mongolia-China border.

The comprehensive Oyu Tolgoi Investment Agreement took effect March 31, 2010, following confirmation by the Government of Mongolia that procedural and administrative conditions contained in the Investment Agreement had been satisfied within the allocated six-month period that has followed the agreement's official signing in October 2009. The comprehensive Investment Agreement now has taken full legal effect.

On October 6, 2009, Turquoise Hill Resources and Rio Tinto signed a long-term, comprehensive Investment Agreement with the Government of Mongolia for the construction and operation of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mining complex. The agreement creates a partnership between the Mongolian Government -- which acquired a 34% interest in the project -- and Turquoise Hill Resources, which retained a controlling 66% interest in Oyu Tolgoi. Global miner Rio Tinto, which joined Turquoise Hill Resources as a strategic partner in October 2006, is managing the development of Oyu Tolgoi.


Based on Turquoise Hill Resources' discoveries at Oyu Tolgoi during the past nine years, independently verified estimates indicate that Oyu Tolgoi contains approximately 46 billion pounds of copper and 25 million ounces of gold in measured and indicated resources and an additional 55 billion pounds of copper and 36 million ounces of gold in inferred resources.

Commercial production expected in the first half of 2013

The Oyu Tolgoi Project initially is being developed as an open-pit operation, with the first phase of mining at the near-surface Southern Oyu deposits, which include Southwest Oyu and Central Oyu. A copper concentrator plant, with related facilities and necessary infrastructure to support an initial throughput of 100,000 tonnes of ore per day, has been constructed to process ore mined from the Southern Oyu open pit. Commercial production is projected to begin in the first half of 2013.

In conjunction with the surface activities, an 85,000-tonne-per-day underground block-cave mine also is being developed at the Hugo North Deposit.

First concentrate was produced on January 31, 2013

Construction of the Oyu Tolgoi mine's first phase of development reached 99% completion at the end of 2012. Total capital invested in the construction of the first phase of the Oyu Tolgoi mine to the end of 2012 was approximately $6.0 billion.

Major updates for 2012 and Q1'13 include the following:

• The mining and stockpiling of the first open-pit ore began in May 2012 and approximately 9.0 million tonnes of ore was stockpiled at the end of 2012. The primary crusher, overland conveyor and coarse-ore stockpile circuits were commissioned in Q3'12 and 435,000 tonnes of ore had been sent through to the coarse ore storage facility at the end of 2012.
• Following the signing of the binding power purchase agreement with the Inner Mongolian Power Corporation in early November 2012, electrical transmission lines for power to the Oyu Tolgoi mine were energized and operational.
• Construction of the concentrator was completed in Q4'12 and a commissioning ceremony was held on December 27, 2012. First ore was fed into the semi-autogenous grinding mill on January 2, 2013.
• First concentrate was produced on January 31, 2013. Commencement of commercial production is expected by the end of Q2'13 subject to the resolution of the issues being discussed with the Government of Mongolia.
• Underground lateral development at the Hugo North Deposit was suspended in February 2012 as planned to enable the upgrading of hoisting equipment at Shaft #1. Following completion of the upgrade in Q3'12, underground lateral development was restarted and approximately 1,500 metres of lateral development were achieved from mid-September 2012 to the end of December 2012.
• Construction of Shaft #2 at the Hugo North Deposit is progressing well with the headframe reaching its final height of 96 metres in Q2'12. The headframe and ancillary buildings were 99% complete at the end of Q4'12. Shaft-sinking activities began in December 2011, and the depth of the shaft is now approximately 980 metres below surface, 74% of its final 1,319 metre depth.
• Long-term sales contracts have been signed for 75% of the Oyu Tolgoi mine's concentrate production in the first three years, while 50% of concentrate production is contracted for ten years (subject to renewals). In addition to the signed contracts, in early November 2012, Oyu Tolgoi committed in principle, subject to the conclusion of detailed sales contracts, up to 25% of concentrate available for export would be made available at international terms to smelters in Inner Mongolia for the first ten years.
• Pre-sinking works for Shaft #5 began in September 2012 and have now been completed. Sinking activity is planned to commence in April 2013. Shaft #5 will provide primary ventilation for underground operations and is expected to have a final depth of 1,195 metres.

(Current as of April 2, 2013)

Cautionary Note to U.S. Investors

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission permits U.S. mining companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only those mineral deposits that a company can economically and legally extract or produce. We use certain terms on this website such as "measured," "indicated," and "inferred" "resources," which the SEC guidelines generally prohibit U.S. registered companies from including in their filings with the SEC. U.S. investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 40-F which may be secured from us, or from the SEC's website at www.sec.gov/edgar.shtml.