well i thought Western prospector would be bit more "environmentally and socially responsible" than any Chinese, Russian and Mongolian operators.

Ontstaan and Numo,
Our country needs strong regulatory mechanism to protect environment and to benefit local mongolians when deal with any mining company.That is what Ontstaan said in his/her post.
I just was upset with Roy Dongen's post on Western when he said " W is clear example of sustainable mining". There is very strong PR campaign financed by these companies brainwashing mongolian public.
Numo,
I was not biased towards Canadian juniors especially. I'm not playing "patriotic." i just said what i thought was right.

I don't understand why get upset about saying "sustainable mining". Was is not meant as "supportive"? I think one should worry about only one thing: - it must be environmentally safe , profitable both to us and the company, must use modern technology, and create jobs. If a company meets all this then it should not matter what company does the mining! What is the use of punching on the chest and shouting nonsense, playing "patriotic"?

Hello Nyamka,
I completely agree that there is no such thing as sustainable mining - "finite lifetime" means exactly that.

Maybe, at some point in the future if the economics will allow it and extraction technologies improve, it might be possible to profitably re-process waste to extract more of the gold or copper that was missed the first time. However, even if this were to happen, mining is still not "sustainable".

I understand your anger but we are, all of us, living in a world of weak governments, greedy politicians and powerful,international corporations.

The "East" and "West" do not exist for the mining companies. They only recognise the difference between weak and strong protective legislation.

Until politicians are forced to become more transparent in their dealings and negotiations then the unfairness in society and mismanagement of the environment can only get worse.

We get angry too, so we are not that different.

Roy boy from Holland,

I just saw your post about "sustainable mining"dated Jan 14, 09. There is no such thing as "sustainable mining". Once mineral finishes, it finishes. No more. Finito. It is gone. There is no way to recover or grow back gold, uranium, copper or any other minerals.
You think mongolians are so dumb?

You praise western for allowing "maximum participation of Mongolian people in their enterprise by increasing the level of education."

Since the deposit in our land, mongolia should participate maximum. It is ours. They have to employ local Mongolians as bringing in workforce from abroad will be expensive. It is not like they are doing it out of generosity. It is market principal. Local mongolians cost cheaper. That's the key here. I bet you will be expensive than me and at same time, i may have same skills and knowledge or maybe far better than you.

We know better than you do. So watch out what you say?

Hey Max,
I have to say that Western Prospector didn't spend a single penny for uranium exploration in Mongolia. What they did was they came here and acquired the license of Gurvanbulag which is former uranium deposit discovered by Soviets. That means it was already discovered. Western don't have re-discover that deposit. That means, it was discovered using state fund. Western knew they have to act quickly when Mongolia moved in the direction of re-claiming back the deposit discovered with state fund. They were able to sell it to a ignorant Chinese company without notifying Mongolia first. It is like a visitor came to your house and sold your water well, which you dug to your neighbor and cashed in. I'm not surprised by your rumor mongering, you ignorant, mongolia hater....

The Chinese are buying Western Prospector. That explains the positive comments regarding how the mine will be sustainable. It also possibly explains why Western Prospector has been found to have violations that could result in their license being revoked. Could the southern neighbour be whispering in the ear of the mining supervision authorities in Mongolia to get a better price? It wouldn't surprise me in the least.

Hi roydongen, not sure how this is "sustainable mining" if the mine has a finite lifetime. Also, while appreciating the immediate benefits in terms of jobs for local people, has the "polluter pays principle" been established? What part of the profits is being set aside to pay for cleaning up the land when the mine eventually closes?

Western Prospector is a clear example of sustainable mining in Mongolia. The company invests, has good policies on work ethics and environmental issues and is ensuring a maximum participation of Mongolian people working in their enterprise by increasing the level of education. Hopefully the government acknowledges the great benefits for Mongolia solves the legal issues without delay in the interest of the Mongolian population.