Gina Rinehart Dips Toe into Mongolian Mining Industry

Mining magnate and Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, has reportedly invested close to $3 million in companies that are exploring coal in Mongolia.

Rinehart has acquired shares of Aspire Mining and Guildford Coal, both of which are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. She now has a 0.7% stake in Aspire Mining and another 0.19% stake in Guildford Coal. The coal mining industry is in its nascent stage in Mongolia, but is growing fast. This is helped by its close location to a ready market in China.

Gina Rinehart had said earlier this year that investors will now soon be bypassing Australia as Mongolia and West Africa will offer better value for return on investments. With the mining tax and the higher cost of operations Australia was going to lose investors, as per Ms Rinehart, who has been a high profile opponent to the new mining tax.

Aspire Mining has set aside $32.8 million for exploration purposes at the Ovooy coking coal project situated in northern Mongolia. In 2010 the company had said that the project is likely to have 330.7 million tonnes of coal. Aspire Mining is being backed by the Noble group and SouthGobi Resources.