Mongolia sees new rail link to China as key to coal sales

A $4-billion deal to revive Mongolia's giant Tavan Tolgoi coal mine will include building an extended cross-border rail link, a minister said on Thursday, a move that could stoke fears about the country's growing dependence on its giant neighbour China. Mongolia's mining boom has slowed, partly as a result of the country's reluctance to hand over control of mineral assets to China. More than 90 percent of the Mongolia's exports already go to China.
China's Shenhua Energy will be crucial to Mongolia's strategy for selling coking coal from the huge Tavan Tolgoi mine to buyers in China and beyond, Minister Mendsaikhan Enkhsaikhan told a coal conference.