MONGOLIA – New Oyu Tolgoi plan

The 2010 update of the Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia supports Ivanhoe Mines’ commitment to advance into full construction, with production of copper and gold expected to begin in 2013.
The new IDP is a comprehensive update of the original 2005 plan and was independently prepared by a team of some of the world’s foremost engineering, mining and environmental consultants.
The Oyu Tolgoi development blueprint contains the first published declaration of underground reserves for the planned Hugo Dummett block-cave mine. It also presents the results of extensive studies of two proposed complementary development scenarios.
IDP 2010 presents two complementary development cases - a reserve case based strictly on proven and probable mineral reserves, and a life of mine (sensitivity) case, which adds a large base of inferred resources to the reserve case.
The reserve case sets out the likely path of development for the initial phases of the Oyu Tolgoi group of deposits (Southern Oyu pits 1 through 9 and Hugo North Lift 1). It is based on a pre-feasibility quality level study complying with NI 43-101, although some parts of the project are further advanced and are considered at feasibility level.
The life of mine case reflects the development flexibility that exists with respect to later phases of the Oyu Tolgoi group of deposits (Heruga, Hugo South and the second lift of Hugo North), which will require separate development decisions in the future based on then prevailing conditions and the development experience obtained from developing and operating the initial phases of the project.
Independent reviews completed in the preparation of the report indicate a number of areas where project value can be further improved or optimized. The report also notes that management has considerable flexibility after initial construction and operations start to further optimize the economic returns to stakeholders.
The series of deposits contain a currently identified resource of almost 40 billion pounds of contained copper in concentrate and 20 million ounces of contained gold in concentrate in the measured and indicated categories and another 40 billion pounds of contained copper and 25 million ounces of contained gold in the Inferred category. The Oyu Tolgoi trend is still open to the north and south and the deposits have not been closed off at depth.
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