They can maintain equipment in Chile, because Terex and other suppliers have located in Chile in order to take advantage of the business there. The Germans who own most of the investment in money to the companies producing copper have smoothed the government pathways. In Asia, you would probably have to deal with Japanese companies (Komatsu, Mitsubishi) as much as you could. What he needs is a rail-line into Mongolia to his site that is good. You will find in rail lines that you pay what the road owner wants to get, not what the brochures say. When Texas gulf wanted to ship phosphate rock to Timmins in 1968 to make fertilizer they were told it was 3 cents per ton mile from Ontario Northland. When they asked how much to ship the super-phosphate acidulated fertilizer out by rail they were told 25 cents a ton mile by the same company. (True story from TG personnel. I know I will get disputes on the price, but it is no exaggeration.) that killed the Ontario fertilizer business and Sherritt Gordon gained strength. (did they bribe the ON people? maybe..) Unless you own the railway, don't ship the expensive stuff. That is why I gave zero chance of the US starting a Vanadium mine in Quebec. Sure, they could get the feasibility and all the setup work done with generous help, but when it came to shipping product through Quebec or Montreal to US destinations, that is where they unions, and crime would block their path. No way to buck Quebec Inc. on that one.
The real story about feasibility in that Mongolian operation is how much money will the Chinese and Mongolians let them make? China has biggie smelters and should have lots of need, but it depends on how much Asia and Europe buys. But will it have the need? And if they try to sell to India, or someone else, what would be the rail charges/holdups then? I doubt you could ship 27% (chalco) copper con to England across China and the sea. Cost 300 dollars per ton just to get it there. The real story is political and geographic isolation. That has held up all the big ore in the NWT, the Raglan for 32 years, a 7 million ton contained copper metal porphyry on the Russian/Indian border, and all kinds of Chinese porphyries in the billion ton range. They are there. huge porphyries with all kinds of copper for quadrillions of tons are sitting idle planet wide. If you want to stake .5% copper, buy lots of axes as you will wear the first ten out fast.
The one thing IVN has going for it, is the huge grade starter pit. If it is big enough to pay down the mills and pit equipment, the thing may run. But it needs power, transportation, labour, and mining equipment. It needs a real hard nose bankable feasibility based on firm economic outlook that a BHP would buy into. Not saying it won't get it, but I would be leery. Friedland may have done Galacticom, but this is Universicom. Maybe too big, too soon.
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