UPDATE 2-Mongolia paves way for Oyu Tolgoi, Ivanhoe soars
Tue Aug 25, 2009 12:34pm EDT
reuters.com
* Mongolian parliament amends key laws
* Investment agreement could be finalized in two weeks
* Ivanhoe shares up nearly 20 percent (Adds details, analyst comments. In U.S. dollars unless noted)
By Cameron French
TORONTO, Aug 25 (Reuters) - Mongolia's parliament passed four amendments key to developing Ivanhoe Mines' (IVN.TO) Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit on Tuesday, driving Ivanhoe's stock up nearly 20 percent and boosting hopes for increased foreign investment in the Asian country.
Chief among the changes is a repeal of a 68 percent windfall profits tax, passed hurriedly in 2006. It was designed to allow the state to benefit from historically high copper and gold prices, but instead became an additional hurdle in the protracted negotiations with Oyu Tolgoi developer Ivanhoe.
Mongolia's finance minister said in a statement that a long-awaited investment agreement with Ivanhoe will be concluded within two weeks, while both Ivanhoe and partner Rio Tinto (RIO.AX)(RIO.L) said they expect to sign a deal soon.
"Now we are in a position to make arrangements with the government to sign the Oyu Tolgoi investment agreement in the near future," Ivanhoe Chief Executive John Macken said in a statement.
Inking a deal would end a five-year struggle for Ivanhoe to complete an agreement and access the billions of dollars worth of copper and gold buried beneath Mongolia's Gobi desert, located not far from the border of copper-hungry China.
It would also help relieve concerns about debt-heavy Rio's commitment to funding the project -- certain funding obligations were set to expire in October if an agreement was not signed -- and rekindle foreign investment interest in the resource-rich country.
"Everybody has been waiting for this deal," said Yuji Iwasaki, chief operating officer of investment bank Frontier Securities, which focuses on Mongolia.
By midday, Ivanhoe's shares were up C$1.85 at C$11.33 in Toronto, their highest level in nearly a year. Rio shares fell 1.3 percent in London.
BOOST FOR ECONOMY
While the investment agreement still has to be finalized by the government, observers were already looking ahead to the impact it would have on both the company and Mongolia's economy.
John P. Finigan, CEO of Mongolia's Golomt Bank, said the country will generate the highest rate of GDP growth in the world over the next decade once the final agreement is inked.
Ivanhoe, Rio and the Mongolian government reached a draft agreement earlier this month that required changes to the legal framework for foreign investment, including revisions to the corporate income tax law and additions to the water and road laws.
Under the amendments passed on Tuesday, the windfall profits tax on copper and gold will be canceled effective Jan. 1, 2011, well before the Oyu Tolgoi project is scheduled to begin production, which Rio said could be as early as 2013.
The repeal of the windfall tax passed by 84 percent, while parliament also passed amendments giving the Oyu Tolgoi developers primary access to underground water resources and allowing foreign investors to finance the building of roads.
It also passed a change to the corporate tax law, which will mean that the companies will carry forward the total of their losses for four to eight years.
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce an average of at least 450,000 tonnes of copper and 330,000 ounces of gold over a 35-year mine life.
Rio currently owns just under 10 percent of Ivanhoe, but can increase its stake to nearly half over time by meeting funding commitments.
($1=$1.08 Canadian) (Additional reporting by Euan Rocha in Toronto, Danielle Mario in Ulan Bator, Lucy Hornby and Tom Miles in Beijing) |
