A change of Asia Gold’s name to SouthGobi Energy Resources has been unanimously approved by the company’s shareholders. The new name more accurately reflects the company’s strategic focus on integrated coal and energy development in southern Mongolia, near the border with China. SouthGobi Energy Resources has acquired the Coal Division of Ivanhoe Mines and now controls 55 coal exploration licences covering more than 20,700 km2 in southern Mongolia. The company’s coal portfolio includes the Ovoot Tolgoi (formerly Nariin Sukhait) mine development and five other exploration and development projects, Exploration work to date at Ovoot Tolgoi has discovered coal resources totalling approximately 150 Mt in the Measured and Indicated categories and an additional 29 Mt in the Inferred category. Ivanhoe Mines is SouthGobi Energy Resources’ largest shareholder, currently owning approximately 90% of the issued and outstanding shares.
SouthGobi Energy Resources is focused on exploration and developing these Permian-age metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in Mongolia’s South Gobi Region to supply a wide range of coal products and electricity to markets in Mongolia and China. The company is investigating the implementation of clean coal technologies in the development of a coal generating power plant. As the company increases its resource base, SouthGobi Energy Resources plans to pursue the potential application of Coal-to-Liquids (CTL) technology to convert a portion of its resources into low-sulphur diesel, gasoline and naphtha.