Aspire raises production target for Ovoot coking coal in Mongolia

Australia-listed Aspire Mining said it has raised the eventual production target for its wholly-owned Ovoot coking coal project in Mongolia to 12 Mt/y, from 10.5 Mt/year. Recent coal washability test results confirmed a high theoretical yield of 80% with 8% ash content, giving Ovoot the potential to be the lowest-ash coking coal producer in Mongolia, Aspire said.

"It is clear from the results that coal from some areas of the deposit may not need to be washed," Aspire managing director David Paull said . That would result in lower operating costs and less coal washing capacity, he added.

The company has raised its output projection for a second-stage development of Ovoot to 12 Mt/y, assuming run-of-mine coal of 15 Mt/y, which would place Ovoot among the world's largest coking coal mines. However, Ovoot's first stage development would be a much smaller scale project of 500,000 t/y - 1 Mt/y due to limitations of road trucking capabilities, Paull told Platts.