Canadian miner Turquoise Hill Resources’ Oyu Tolgoi copper mine has declared a force majeure on its customer contracts for copper concentrate due to COVID-19 related restrictions between China and Mongolia.
The miner noted in a media statement on Tuesday that it had to suspend its copper concentrate shipments to China in compliance with Chinese-Mongolian border crossing health and safety rules. Oyu Tolgoi has extended its support to the Mongolian government to resume shipping to China as soon as possible.
The Oyu Tolgoi mine also halted mine production during the week due to two COVID-19 positive cases in the mine, following which the site completed 9,726 PCR tests as per safety guidelines. The company said that its concentrator and bagging plants were not impacted by the mine’s temporary shutdown.