North Asia CEO sees Mongolia as a golden opportunity

Joseph King Jun-chih, 43 and an accounting graduate from the State University of New York, and a friend founded North Asia Resources, which was acquired by Green Global Resources in July last year. Green Global, which used to be an agricultural and information technology firm, appointed King chairman in March. A month later it reverted to the name North Asia Resources, focusing on mining. Since Green Global"s acquisition, North Asia has been busy in Mongolia which has large reserves of minerals.

North Asia owns and operates an iron ore and copper mine and two gold mines in Mongolia. The Oyut Ovoo iron and copper mine in south-central Mongolia has already produced 20,000 tons of iron ore for trial production, King said, while 1,200 grams have been dug out from the gold mines. North Asia has big ambitions. It is aiming to position itself as the BHP Billiton of Mongolia, and be the gateway for the transfer of resources from Mongolia to China, according to a report in The Standard, Hong Kong.

"No pain, no gain" is King"s motto as he tries to steer the firm into a leadership role. To achieve this the management team has to be on its toes. So two of the three executive directors are based in Mongolia to keep a firm grip on supervision and management. "We have to be there to learn about the local environment, law, local conditions and customs," King said. "We want to send a strong signal to our partners that our management team is not there for sightseeing. We are committed." The firm has an advisory board, packed with world-class mining experts.

Although Mongolia is a developing country, it will be a mega resources producer in 20 to 30 years, the World Bank predicts. "It is a golden opportunity for us," King noted, "considering that Mongolia is next to China." North Asia has an office in Ulaanbaatar, and King said he is satisfied with the mines" operations. "Oyut Ovoo is an open-pit mine, easy for exploitation and the cost is low too." North Asia is looking to expand production starting next spring.

"It took us only six months, from the acquisition to the initial blasting. We have legal and government approval to proceed," King said, noting that projects can get off the ground quickly in Mongolia because of the government"s keen interest in foreign investment. "Mongolia is a mining-friendly country with laws that allow co- production and joint ventures for mining projects," he said.

But not all is rosy. The biggest problem for doing mining business in Mongolia is transportation, King said. "Most of the country is uninhabited and there used to be only one railway built by the Russians decades ago." The gauge of the track in Mongolia is wider than in China, "so the iron ore couldn"t go anywhere if we did not solve the transportation problem."

North Asia then decided to team up with China Railway Mongolia, a subsidiary of China Railway. Under their agreement, China Railway Mongolia will purchase 1.5 million tonnes of iron ore from North Asia at the prevailing market price each year and transport at least 2.5 million tonnes for North Asia to Erenh on the Mongolian-China border every year.

King said North Asia will focus on developing its business in Mongolia by acquiring several more iron mines in the future. China needs large quantities of iron to feed its growing industries. "That"s why I am so bullish about our future," King said.

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