Mongolia

EITI Status Satisfactory progress
Joined EITI in 2007
Latest Data From 2019
Latest Validation 2018
Website EITI Mongolia
Last updated 15 November 2021

Overview

The extractive sector is the main source of economic growth in Mongolia and a major part of the economy. The 2019 EITI Report highlights the extractive sector represented 23.7% of GDP and earned USD 6.7 billion in exports. 

With extensive deposits of coal, copper, gold, petroleum and uranium, the mining industry plays an important role in Mongolia’s economy and accounted for 1.35% of economic growth in 2018 but declined 0.12% in 2019 due to a decrease in the metal content of the Oyu Tolgoi project. Mining exports increased by 8.7% in 2019 compared to 2018. Mongolia exports approximately 95% of its crude oil and has commissioned as of 2019 infrastructure for oil refinery. 

The mining sector accounted for 26.13% of Mongolia’s national budget revenue during 2019.

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.

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

Beneficial ownership disclosure

Mongolia is currently publishing BO data through its 2019 EITI report and has adopted beneficial ownership reforms in various laws including the Law on State Registration of Legal Entities, the Law on Minerals, and the Law on Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. BO data collection is a high priority for the company regulator and the Ministry of Mining.

There is strong demand for quality data from civil society, but despite e-governance and open data being quite advanced, there is an ongoing debate around whether to publish BO data. There are opportunities to engage with various partners already engaging on anti-corruption and transparency efforts, starting with harmonisation of legislation and increasing technical capacity around issues such as verification, data collection and data standardisation.

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

According to the report published by the Ministry of Finance, the tax revenue generated from the mining sector reached to 850 miliion USD (MNT 2.394 billion) into state budget at the end of 2018. 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.

Mongolia GDP Growth Outlook 2020 (ADB)
IM4DC (August 2015),Resources-to-Cash: a Cautionary Tale from Mongolia

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 joined the EITI in 2007. On 13 February 2018 Mongolia was found achieved satisfactory progress in implementing the EITI Standard on its second Validation. View more information under the Validation section of this page or go to the Board's decision in full.

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

Mongolia 2021 implementation timeline

Validation

The Board decided that Mongolia had achievied 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 next Validation commences on 1 January 2022. A public call for views on stakeholder engagement in EITI implementation was launched in November 2021.  

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

Mongolia's progress by requirement

Download PDF
We recommend using Adobe Acrobat PDF reader to access all content and features in this document. You can download the program for free here https://get.adobe.com/reader/

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 2019 EITI Report

Published Date: 
December, 2020
Publisher: 
Mongolia EITI

This EITI Report covers Mongolia extractive sector in 2019. It was published in December 2020.

Read more

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. 

Read more

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.

Read more
View all documents related to Mongolia in our publications library

Contacts

National Coordinator

International Secretariat

Oliana Valigura

Oliana Valigura

Regional Director – Eurasia (on leave)
View profile

Marie Gay Alessandra Ordenes

Asia & Pacific Director
View profile