Copper shipments resume from Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi mine after protests in Freight News 20/06/2026 Concentrate export shipments from the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine returned to normal after they were interrupted by local protestors, the project’s operator, London-based multinational mining company Rio Tinto said in a statement on its local social media June 18. Oyu Tolgoi, a major copper-gold mine in the South Gobi Desert of Mongolia, is jointly owned by the government of Mongolia, with a 34% stake, and Rio Tinto, which holds the remaining 66% and manages the operation, according to the company’s website. Members of a group called the Radical Reform Movement blocked the road and trucks carrying concentrate from Oyu Tolgoi to China on June 16-17, according to its Facebook posts over the last few days. “Let’s stop the export of Oyu Tolgoi’s wealth,” the group said in a June 16 Facebook post, adding that they intended to stop 160 trucks carrying 40 two-ton bags of concentrate each. “In reality, even more is being transported, while Mongolians are racking up Tugriks 10 billion-15 billion [$2.8 million-$4.2 million] in debt daily,” said the group, adding they were submitting requirements to the Oyu Tolgoi project management team. A Rio Tinto representative declined to specify the protestors’ requirements or whether the company had addressed them, when contacted by Platts, part of S&P Global Energy. The company said in its June 18 statement that the Oyu Tolgoi operation injected an average of Tugriks 23 billion/day into the economy and, through its direct and indirect contributions, accounted for more than 10% of the Mongolian economy. Mongolia was bailed out by multilateral and bilateral creditors to avoid a sovereign debt default in 2017, and since 2021 the country has gradually improved its macroeconomic performance, with public debt dropping from 77.8% of GDP in 2020 to less than 40% in 2024, according to European credit insurance group Credendo. Mongolia’s economy rema