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  • November 2013 (Revised March 2015)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Rio Tinto and Mining in Mongolia: The Oyu Tolgoi Deposit

By: Eric Werker, Battushig Batbold, Kelsey Kennedy, Zanna McComish, Shaloo Savla and Nicole Shomair
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:25
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Abstract

In 2013, Rio Tinto was expected to begin commercial shipments from Oyu Tolgoi, a copper and gold mine in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. Oyu Tolgoi was one of the last great unmined deposits in the world, and, once operations were in full swing, was expected to constitute around a tenth of Rio Tinto's profits and over a quarter of Mongolia's GDP. But the terms of the deal were being threatened by elections in Mongolia and a change in voter sentiment towards the project. With around $6 billion invested, Rio Tinto had to figure out how to make its investment work out. Meanwhile the Mongolian government, facing scorching economic growth rates, had to lead the country through its most significant transformation since the time of Ghengis Khan nine centuries earlier.

Keywords

Change Management; Investment; Business and Government Relations; Mining; Mining Industry; Mongolia

Citation

Werker, Eric, Battushig Batbold, Kelsey Kennedy, Zanna McComish, Shaloo Savla, and Nicole Shomair. "Rio Tinto and Mining in Mongolia: The Oyu Tolgoi Deposit." Harvard Business School Case 714-018, November 2013. (Revised March 2015.)

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