SouthGobi Resources owns the right asset in the right place at the

right time. The Hong Kong-listed Mongolian mining company is controlled

by Ivanhoe Mines of Canada, and operates the Ovoot Tolgoi mine just 40km

from the border with China.

Since March, Oovot Tolgoi has produced about 200,000 tonnes of coal a

month, most of it destined for Chinese steel mines and power plants.

That represents a dramatic turnaround from the same period last year,

when production was halted because of a tangle at the Shivee

Khuren-Ceke border crossing that illustrates the profound impact China’s

rapid economic growth is having on its vast and resource-rich

neighbour.

Like other designated points along the Sino-Mongolian frontier,

Shivee Khuren-Ceke had been a sleepy, seasonal border crossing that

facilitated reunions between Mongolians and their kinfolk in Inner

Mongolia, a Chinese province, during festival periods.

The development of Oovot Tolgoi transformed the surrounding economy,

previously focused on cashmere production, and put a strain on Shivee

Khuren-Ceke, which SouthGobi’s prospectus notes experienced “erratic and

unpredictable opening hours and sporadic closures” in early 2009.

Speaking to reporters at post-results briefing on Friday, Alexander

Molyneux, SouthGobi chief executive, said his company’s subsequent

production hiatus was implemented to clear the backlog that accumulated

during the border disruption.

Now designated a “permanent border crossing” by the Mongolian and

Chinese foreign ministries - and open 11 hours a day, six days a week -

Shivee Khuren-Ceke is no longer a bottleneck.

But the Mongolian authorities are still racing to alleviate other

infrastructure challenges arising from Chinese demand for the country’s

resources. Mining companies routinely operate 100-tonne trucks over a

national road network only designed for vehicles of up to 60 tonnes.

Mongolia is scrambling to upgrade its road standards accordingly.

南戈壁能源(SouthGobi Resources)坐拥的资产可谓“天时地利人和”。这家香港上市的蒙古矿业公司是加拿大艾芬豪矿业集团(Ivanhoe)的子公司，经营着离中国边境40公里处的敖包特陶勒盖(Ovoot Tolgoi)煤矿。

自今年三月起，敖包特陶勒盖的月煤炭产量已达20万吨，其中大部分被送到了中国的钢铁厂和发电厂。

这表明，情况与去年同期相比，发生了戏剧性的转变。当时，西伯库伦—策克口岸(Shivee Khuren-Ceke)的混乱，一度令该煤矿暂停生产。这一事件凸显了中国经济快速增长对其领土辽阔、资源丰富的邻国所产生的深刻影响。

一如中蒙边境上的其它定点口岸，西伯库伦—策克曾经是个冷清的季节性边境口岸，只为节日期间蒙古国民和他们生活在中国内蒙古自治区的亲戚相聚而设。

敖包特陶勒盖煤矿的开发，转变了周边的经济模式——那里曾经以羊绒生产为主，也给西伯库伦—策克口岸带来了更多压力。2009年初，南戈壁能源在招股说明书中写道：“（策克口岸）的开放时间没有规律且不可预测，偶尔还发生关闭情况”。

南戈壁能源首席执行官亚历克斯·莫利纽克斯(Alex Molyneux)周五在后业绩发布会上向记者表示，公司当时暂停生产，旨在清理边境中断期间的库存。

如今，西伯库伦—策克口岸被蒙中两国外交部设为“常年开放口岸”，每天开放11个小时，每周开放6天，不再成为瓶颈。

然而，随着中国对蒙古资源需求的增长，蒙古政府正在尽力缓解由此引发的其它基础设施的不足。矿业公司100吨重的卡车常年行驶在设计载重仅为60吨的国道系统上。蒙古正努力对其道路标准实施相应的升级。

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