Throughout the period of Mongolia's emergence as an independent nation, with its own economy, mining has become increasingly important to the country's development, and now accounts for more than 50 per cent of export revenues, as well as a major source of employment.

Today two of the world's top three gold producers are active in Mongolia, and many of the world's top copper producers are examining Ivanhoe's copper-gold deposit at Oyu Tolgoi. Since 1993 gold production has also grown 10-fold, and Centerra's new Boroo mine achieved commercial production in March 2004.

Mongolia already hosts one of the world's largest copper mines, Erdenet. Copper exports to China (the world's largest copper consumer) account for more than one-third of all merchandise exports and nearly one-fifth of government revenues.

In 2002, after several years of minimal exploration activity, interest in Mongolia increased significantly following a highly promising copper-gold discovery in the southern region. As a result, Mongolia is emerging as one of the leading gold and copper exploration regions in the world. The favorable investment climate, modern mining laws, low-cost exploration and proximity to China - which has a large and growing demand for raw materials - are driving the international mining community's interest.

Despite significant mineral discoveries in the past few years, Mongolia remains largely unexplored. As a result of the prospective geology, recent discoveries and reasonable mining laws, many major companies have taken a position in the country. Today, two of the world's top three gold producers are active in Mongolia. In addition, the world's top copper producers are evaluating Ivanhoe's Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit in the South Gobi area, and Canada's Cameco Corporation has recently brought the Boroo Gold Mine into production in the northeastern part of the country (now operating as Centerra Gold). Mongolia already hosts one of the world's largest copper mines, Erdenet, and produces approximately 400,000 ounces of gold annually through placer operations.

Mongolia has made significant advances in the past decade in developing a modern democracy with a free market economy. Recently, the government has implemented a new law securing private land ownership, reached an agreement on the country's debt with the Russian Federation and extended a fibre optic cable network to all provincial capitals, providing extensive Internet and cellular telephone service.

From both geological and foreign investment perspectives, Mongolia provides an ideal environment to benefit from increasing metal prices and rapidly decreasing global reserves.