Ivanhoe Mines finally has something to be happy about at Oyu Tolgoi. The company has discovered a new mineralized zone at the southern Mongolian mine on Tuesday. The Canadian exploration company has been working on the copper and gold project in Mongolia for almost a decade.
Oyu Tolgoi is believed to be the largest undeveloped copper-gold project in the world. It is located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia, about 550km south of the capital, Ulaanbaatar and 80 north of the border with China.
Ivanhoe Mines said that the new discovery being called the Heruga North deposit has bolstered the view that more gold and copper may be found at the project than what was previously presumed.
Ivanhoe Mines said that it had intercepted about one kilometre of almost continuous gold and copper mineralization in the drill hole at Heruga North. This is the longest exploration drill intercept of gold and copper mineralization that it has recorded ever since it began drilling on the project site in 2001.
Results also indicate that Heruga North may contain quantities and grades as Heruga which is estimated to contain 10.2 billion pounds of copper and 15 million ounces of gold.
Ivanhoe Mining is led by Robert Friedland who said that it was possible that Heruga and Heruga North eventually could be developed together as one of the world’s largest underground mines. The shares in the company rose by 38 cents to reach $23.60 in pre market trading.