Rio Tinto hits more turbulence in Mongolia as protests halt copper export
Rio Tinto has hit more turbulence in Mongolia, with blockades near the Chinese border stopping Rio's Oyu Tolgoi mine from delivering copper to customers.
The disruption, caused by protests on the Chinese side of the border, come
barely 48 hours after it was revealed that Mongolia had sought $US155 million of allegedly unpaid taxes from Oyu Tolgoi.
The Rio subsidiary that operates Oyu Tolgoi, Turquoise Hill Resources, said the protests had been underway for 10 days and had forced the company to declare force majeure on its copper shipments to Chinese customers.
"The placement of protesters vehicles prevented any traffic from safely traversing the border...and has continued to do so," the company said in a statement.
The focus of the protest was unclear, but Turquoise Hill described the protesters as coal transporters.
(20min delay)