Rio Tinto's Turquoise Hill Challenges Mongolian Tax Claims

By Alexis Flynn 

LONDON-- Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. has filed a dispute notice with the Mongolian government, contesting an audit from the country's tax authorities that claimed unpaid taxes and penalties which could lead to delays in investment in a major copper and gold mine in the country.

Turquoise Hill, the Rio Tinto-owned company that owns the rights to the $6.2 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine, said Thursday that the move could lead to international arbitration if talks to resolve the dispute didn't succeed within the next two months.

An enormous copper trove that could eventually represent a third of landlocked Mongolia's economy, Oyu Tolgoi has been beset by delays and complicated negotiations between Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill and the government. In its statement, Turquoise Hill said outstanding issues such as tax claims would need to be resolved before more investment in the mine's underground development could proceed.

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