Oct 26 2010
Alexander Molyneux, President and CEO of SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX:SGQ)(SEHK:1878), announced today that the company has awarded a US$48 million contract to build a paved highway dedicated to the delivery of export shipments from SouthGobi's Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine to the Mongolia-China border crossing at Shivee Khuren-Ceke.
The contract was awarded to Leighton Asia, a division of Australia-based contracting giant Leighton Group, in a joint venture with Monnis International, a leading Mongolian resource, construction and transportation conglomerate.
Work will include the design and construction of the 45-kilometre highway linking the Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine with Ceke, a major coal terminal on the China side of the border with rail connections to key coal markets in China.
The new coal-hauling highway will be 17 metres wide and will consist of four fully-paved lanes, with a one-metre central median in order to provide capacity well in excess of 20 million tonnes of coal per year. It will be constructed with a concession granted by the Mongolian Government as per the country's recently passed Concession Law. Upon completion, the road will accommodate heavy axle loads of fully loaded coal trucks and set new standards for haul road infrastructure in Mongolia.
"We are very pleased to work with Leighton Asia and Monnis International on this significant infrastructure project in southern Mongolia," said Mr. Molyneux. "The new coal highway will improve safety for coal transporters, will greatly reduce the environmental impacts of the unpaved road – and will facilitate further aggressive growth of our mining business."
The new highway is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2012.
Source: http://www.leightonasia.com/