Mongolia

EITI Status Satisfactory progress
Joined EITI in 2007
Latest Data From 2017
Latest Validation 2018
Website EITI Mongolia
Last updated 27 January 2020

Overview

Mongolia is a leading producer of coking coal, copper, iron ore and crude oil, but exports nine minerals in total. Extractive industries accounted for 23.4% of GDP and 79.6% of total exports in 2017 according to the 2017 EITI Report. The Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine is the single largest mining project, which is expected to be one of the top five global copper producers. Tavan Tolgoi is the world’s largest undeveloped coal mine. Public debates have centered on the environmental impact of mining, areas reserved for conservation and the government’s role in developing large-scale “strategic” deposits. Provinces and districts that host extractive industries have set up subnational EITI councils to improve transparency and public participation in resources management at local levels.

Find a video about the EITI in Mongolia here (in Mongolian).

News, blogs and more

Tax and legal framework

The main taxes levied on the mining sector include royalties, corporate income tax, customs duties and licence fees, while the major oil and gas levies are state petroleum receipts from production-sharing agreements, corporate income tax and customs duties. The Mongolian Taxation Authority is the main body responsible for collecting taxes paid to central government, while the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority (MRPAM) collects sector levies for mining and oil and gas respectively. Provincial and district governments are responsible for collecting subnational revenues.

Some contracts are disclosed, including one mining investment agreement and 141 company agreements with local authorities. Mongolia launched a dedicated portal for extractives contracts in early 2017. On 22 April the Ministry of Mines and Heavy Industries published over 150 contracts.

Mining licences are awarded on a ‘first come first served’ basis, while oil and gas production-sharing agreements (PSAs) are awarded through public tender. The 2010 moratorium on new mining exploration licence awards was lifted in 2014. Mongolia has 3273 active mining and exploration licences in 2019.

Mining licences are awarded on a ‘first come first served’ basis, while oil and gas production-sharing agreements (PSAs) are awarded through public tender. The 2010 moratorium on new mining exploration licence awards was lifted in 2014. Mongolia had 25 oil and gas PSAs and 4800 active mining licences in 2018.

Learn more from the MRPAM website.

USGS Mongolia Minerals Yearbook 2015
EITI Mongolia webpage on licenses
UNDP (2016), 'Corruption risk assessment in Mongolia's mining sector
Transparency International (2017), 'Corruption risks in mining licensing in Mongolia' (Mongolian)
Transparency International (2017), 'Corruption risks in mining licensing in Mongolia' (English)
NRGI (2015), Contract Transparency a Critical Component of Civil Society Oversight in Mongolia
Local Level Agreements in Mongolia’s Resource Sector: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward
Wild Growth: An Assessment of Erdenes Mongol

Beneficial ownership disclosure

Mongolia decided to include a section on beneficial ownership in its 2013 EITI Report. Using a simple questionnaire, the MSG asked for beneficial ownership information from any entity holding 5% or more of a mining or petroleum license. While the survey was voluntary, 215 of the 250 companies that participated in the 2013 EITI Report provided information on their equity-holders. Although some equity holders were natural persons, the report did not confirm whether they were legal or beneficial owners. The results were converted into an interactive infographic on the EITI Mongolia website. The 2014 EITI Report was less successful in providing beneficial ownership data, with only 30 of the 236 companies responding to the request. The 2015 EITI Report was more successful, with 51 of the 202 companies reporting, of which 26 disclosed their beneficial ownership. In the 2016 EITI Report, 47 of the 213 companies reported details of their beneficial ownership. This number increased significantly in 2017: in the 2017 EITI Report, 184 of 230 companies disclosed their beneficial ownership.

In February and May 2018, the EITI International Secretariat, with support from the EBRD, conducted two beneficial ownership workshops for civil society and media representatives. The workshops were focusing on strategies for ensuring a robust legal framework for beneficial ownership transparency, and understanding and evaluating the quality of beneficial ownership data disclosed by the companies. In May 2019 the International Secretariat with support from the EBRD conducted a round table for government and parliament a to discuss the progress in implementation BO transparency.

EITI Beneficial Ownership roadmap - Mongolia
Anit-Corruption Commission's database of Politically-Exposed Persons' annual asset disclosures
Ikon.mn's infographic of Parliamentarian's reported assets (2016)
General Authority for State Registration

Production

Mongolia is a leading producer of mineral commodities such as coal (according to the IEA, the country is the world’s 13th largest producer in 2017) and copper, but produces and exports a total of 15 mineral and petroleum commodities including gold, iron ore, zinc, molybdenum, fluorspar, tungsten, silver, tin, gypsum, zeolite, lead and clinker. Mongolia was primarily a copper exporter until 2006, although surging coal exports to China dominated output from 2007 to 2012. Oyu Tolgoi’s ramping up of production since 2013 has led to growing exports of copper concentrate, which offset a slump in coal output. Exploration activity is focused on the North, South and East of the country, with long distances requiring complex associated infrastructure to develop new mines.

Mongolia’s Geological Information Catalogue System (MonGeoCat)
MRPAM mining statistics
MRPAM Investment Guide
Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime (2017), 'Illicit Financial Flows in ASM in Mongolia'
Bank of Mongolia monthly foreign trade reviews

Mineral production (tonnes)

Initializing chart.

Oil and Gas Production (Sm3 o.e.)

Initializing chart.

Natural resources

Mongolia has rich deposits of copper, coal, gold, silver, iron ore, zinc, fluorspar, molybdenum, uranium, tin, tungsten, natural gas and petroleum. Abundant mineral reserves are found throughout the country, although only around 30% of Mongolia’s territory has been explored.

CommodityReservesUnitSignificance
Oil2.4Billion barrelsWhile under-explored, Mongolia’s proven reserves are in the east with frontier exploration in the west. Significant reserves of unconventional petroleum (shale gas and shale oil) are also estimated.
Gold591,244Metric tonsAlluvial gold - off limits to miners - accounts for over half of reserves, but several larger deposits are in development. Gold is also associated with large copper deposits like Oyu Tolgoi.
Silver3,493Metric tonsDespite only one producing mine in the north, there are several other silver deposits spread across the country.
Copper53.6Million metric tonsMongolia has the world’s 12th largest copper reserves. Oyu Tolgoi will become the world’s second largest operating copper mine once the underground phase II expansion is completed in 2020.
Coal26.57Billion metric tonsMongolia has the world’s fourth largest coal reserves, thermal and coking coals combined. Tavan Tolgoi is the world’s largest undeveloped coal mine.
Iron348.11Million metric tonsProven reserves of iron ore are fragmented and spread out nationwide, leading to smaller average deposit sizes and lower operating lives for mines.

Sources: "Section 5.1.3.2: Mongolia's mineral resources" in 2017 EITI Report, USGS Mongolia Minerals Yearbook 2015.

Revenue collection

The latest EITI disclosures (2017) show that Mongolia received 828 million USD from extractive industry taxation. Roughly a quarter of these revenues comes from mineral products, with the rest from mining, where copper, coal and iron ore as the major commodities. Revenues were mainly collected through fees for exploitation and exploration of mineral resources (37.95%), corporate income tax (20.71%) and state petroleum receipts as per PSAs (9.21%). The Mining Law was revised in July 2014, with new royalty structures.

IM4DC (August 2015),Resources-to-Cash: a Cautionary Tale from Mongolia
MAD Investment Solutions (November 2013), A Brief Analysis of the Mongolian Economy

Initializing chart.

Revenue allocation

Provincial and district governments receive 25% of VAT (aside from imports), 5% of mining royalties and 30% of oil and gas royalties through the General Local Development Fund. Provincial governments also play a key role in extractive industries oversight, approving new licence applications for instance. The new Law on Glass Accounts requires full disclosure of expenditures by all levels of government.

Glass Accounts website
Finance Ministry Budget website

Innovations

The EITI encourages multi-stakeholder groups to explore innovative approaches to make the EITI more relevant and useful.

  • Mongolia’s EITI Reports are very comprehensive, with roughly 1000 companies reporting.  
  • By 2016, all 21 provinces and 14 districts had established tripartite subnational EITI councils.
  • Reporting entities disclose EITI information through an online reporting system.
  • An online query tool allows users to visualise legal ownership information on some companies.

Implementation

Mongolia was found to have achieved satisfactory progress in implementing the EITI Standard. View more information under the Validation section of this page or go to the Board's decision in full.

Mongolia published its 2019 work plan and 2018 annual progress report. The key objectives of Mongolia’s EITI implementation include establishing the EITI Report and eReporting system as the most reliable source of information on the extractive industries, with EITI data contributing to public debate, enhance stakeholders’ capacity and mutual trust as well as ensuring the sustainability of the EITI process.

Governance

The Government of Mongolia committed to implement EITI in December 2005 and was admitted as EITI Candidate on 27 September 2007. A  Memorandum of Understanding sets out the commitment to EITI implementation by the government, extractive companies and civil society. Resolution no. 80 (2007) establishes the responsibility of government bodies in EITI. A National Council coordinates and monitors implementation of the EITI in Mongolia, chaired by the Prime Minister of Mongolia, Sumiyabazar Dolgorsuren, Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry and has 30 members. A Multi-Stakeholder Working Group (MSWG) is in charge of implementing EITI activities, counts 33 members and is chaired by the senior advisor to the Prime Minister Nandinjargal Ganbold, State Secretary of the Ministry of Mines and Heavy Industry. Since November 2018, the National Secretariat has been under the Ministry of Mining and Heavy Industry. Resolution no. 19 (14 July 2010) commits the government to finance the cost of EITI Reports from fiscal year 2011 onwards through the budget of the Prime Minister’s Department, and directs regional and local governments to disclose all revenues paid by the holders of exploration and exploitation licenses as part of the EITI process. The current Minerals Law of Mongolia (§48.10) requires mining holders to publicly disclose product sales, and taxes and payments paid to the State and local budgets annually. Development of a draft EITI law is in progress.

Timeline

Validation

Mongolia was found to have made satisfactory progress in meeting the EITI Standard on 13 February 2018. The country was previously found to have made meaningful progress on 11 January 2017 during the First Validation. Mongolia took corrective actions on a number of requirements and achieved satisfactory progress during the second Validation. Mongolia’s third validation commences on 13 February 2021.

Board decision
News item on the Validation result
Country statuses explained
Documentation: Validation Report and initial assessment

Mongolia's progress by requirement

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Scorecards show the outcomes of Validation. Arrows of progress indicate where the International Secretariat has re-assessed a requirement following a corrective action in a second or third Validation. 

EITI Reports and other key documents

Mongolia 2017 EITI Report

Published Date: 
November, 2018
Publisher: 
Mongolia EITI

This EITI Report covers Mongolia extractive sector in 2017. It was published in December 2018. 

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Feasibility study: Systematic disclosures of EITI data in Mongolia

Published Date: 
February, 2018
Publisher: 
EITI

The EITI International Secretariat has performed the following assessment of routine online disclosures in Mongolia’s extractive sector to examine the country’s readiness to mainstream EITI implementation. The assessment follows the Terms of Reference for a mainstreaming feasibility study and reviews the extent to which there is:

(1) routine disclosure of the data required by the EITI Standard in requisite detail, and(2) whether the financial data is subject to credible, independent audit, applying international standards.

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Mongolia Validation 2018

Published Date: 
November, 2017
Publisher: 
EITI International Secretariat

On 13 February 2018 Mongolia was found to have made satisfactory progress on implementing the 2016 EITI Standard. See Board decision 2018-14/BM-39

In the second Validation, the EITI International Secretariat has assessed the progress made in addressing the ten corrective actions established by the EITI Board following the first Validation. 

Oversight by the multi-stakeholder group (Requirement 1.4.b.vi &

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View all documents related to Mongolia in our publications library

Contacts

National Coordinator

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Oliana Valigura

Oliana Valigura

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Regional Director
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Annie Magnus

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Country Officer
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Olesia Tolochko

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Country Officer
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