Geological survey
Mongolia has 11 metallogenic provinces and zones with zinc-bearing polymetallic potential, including Ulaan Khus-Sagsai, Nukhet Davaa, Tsagaan Olom, Govi-Altai, Tes-Khuvsgul, Khangai, South Gobi, Khentii, Govi-Ugtaal Jargalan, Eastern Mongolia, and Nukhet Davaa.
Zinc-bearing polymetallic deposits (including Pb, Ag, Fe, Cd, etc.) have been identified in the Khentii and Eastern Mongolia metallogenic zones, where deposits such as Tumurtiin-Ovoo zinc deposit, Ulaan, Tsav, and Mukhar polymetallic deposits have formed. Additionally, numerous zinc occurrences have been identified in their vicinity.
ZINC METALLOGENIC BELTS, DEPOSITS, AND OCCURENCES IN MONGOLIA
ZINC RESOURCE OCCURENCES in Mongolia
Deposits
According to the National Geological Survey, there are 10 zinc deposits registered in the National mineral resources database. After consolidating the reserves of these deposits, it was recorded that 52.79 million tonnes of ore containing 2.18 million tonnes of zinc, 259.11 thousand tonnes of lead, 777.74 thousand tonnes of iron, 1.28 thousand tonnes of copper, 520.24 tonnes of silver, and 9.27 thousand tonnes of cadmium.
ZINC DEPOSITS in Mongolia
Mining licenses, production and export
In 2023, exploration work for zinc was planned on 0.4% of the total exploration licenses, covering 1.6% of the total exploration area in Mongolia.
Currently, five zinc and polymetallic deposits are in operation in Mongolia. These include:
- Tumurtiin Ovoo and Erven Khoshuu Ovoo in Sukhbaatar Province,
- Ulaan Deposit in Dornod Province,
- Elstei Deposit in Dornogovi Province, and
- Barigalt Deposit in Khentii Province.
All of these deposits are concentrated in the eastern region of Mongolia.
Out of these five active deposits, two use open-pit mining, one uses underground mining, and two use both open-pit and underground mining methods. Zinc-containing ores are processed using flotation technology to produce zinc concentrates. The grades of the produced zinc ores range from 4.4% to 8%, while the concentrates contain 48.3% to 53.6% zinc.
ZINC PRODUCTION AND EXPORTS
From 2016 to 2023, zinc mining enterprises earned between MNT 3.7 trillion in sales revenue annually, contributing MNT 998.1 billion to the national and local budgets.
According to MRPAM, a total of 40 mining licenses held by 34 companies for zinc-bearing mineral resources are currently valid. Among them, 19 companies hold 18 mining licenses where feasibility studies have been conducted, leading to 19 development-ready projects. Of these, 17 projects are expected to produce zinc-containing products.
Based on the feasibility studies of both operating and development-ready projects, a total of 18.048 million tonnes of zinc-bearing ore and concentrate is projected to be produced between 2024 and 2063. The estimated amount of pure zinc contained in the final product is 2.1 million tonnes.
Zinc Production Outlook - Total Output & Contained Zinc
