Reuters cited Mr Temuulen Ganzorig deputy director of Erdenes MGL as saying that Mongolia has shortlisted eight potential partners for its huge Tavan Tolgoi coking coal project. He said that the Mongolian government company that will hold at least 51% of the equity.

Mr Ganzorig said recently that the shortlisted bidders included BHP Billiton, India Jindal, Brazil Vale, US coal miner Peabody and China Shenhua as well as South Korea's COPEC consortium a group of Japanese companies and a Russian consortium including Gazprom and Renova.

He said that "There are feasibilities to be clarified, options such as to divide the deposits into two to three blocs."

Mongolia vice minister of Mineral Resources and Energy said Mongolia will select the winners of the highly contested coal mine stake sale by the end of this year.

Mongolia has hired JPMorgan and Deutsche Bank to sell up to a 49% stake in the mine. Tavan Tolgoi which holds estimated reserves of 6.5 billion tonnes of coking coal may be split between bidders from China, Russia and a leading international miner such as BHP.

(Sourced from Reuters)