Facility
Oyu Tolgoi Mine — Undai River Water Intake (Ömnögovi Province, Mongolia)
Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine (Ömnögovi Province, Gobi Desert, Mongolia; 66% Rio Tinto / Turquoise Hill, 34% Mongolian government) relies on the Undai River as its primary freshwater source for process water. The Undai River is a ephemeral (seasonal) river in an arid steppe ecosystem supporting Mongolian nomadic herder communities. Mine water withdrawal agreements negotiated 2011-2015 between Oyu Tolgoi LLC and the Mongolian government set extraction limits; community conflicts over water access have been an ongoing source of social license risk. The underground mine expansion (Phase 2, 2020-2024, ~$7B) significantly increased water demand. Water availability in the Gobi Desert is a physical constraint on mine production rates — the Undai River is a single-source dependency for a $10B+ mine. Source: https://www.riotinto.com/en/operations/mongolia/oyu-tolgoi
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