Inner Mongolian dissident, Jiranbayariin Soyolt has been arrested in Beijing on false accusations. His whereabouts remain unclear as Chinese officials refuse access to him.
Below is an article published by the Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center:
Jiranbayariin Soyolt, a Southern (Inner) Mongolian dissident in exile and a citizen of Mongolia, was arrested in Beijing Capital Airport on January 6, 2008, while on a business trip to China along with two other Mongolian citizens Mr. Purevsuren, President of Mon-Energeo HHK, and Mr. Bat-Erdene, partner of Purevsuren. The three left Ulaanbaatar, capital of Mongolia, on January 6 [2008], 11:45 AM, with Air China airline and arrived at the Beijing Capital Airport on January 6 [2008], 1:00 PM.
According to a written communication to SMHRIC [Southern Mongolian Human Rights Information Center] by Ms. Tuyaa, wife of Soyolt, Purevsuren and Bat-Erden entered the airport customs check followed by Soyolt. After waiting for Soyolt outside the customs check for two hours, Purevsuren and Bat-Erden returned to the customs counter to inquire about the reason for Soyolt’s delay. At the customs counter, they saw Soyolt in handcuffs surrounded by 5 policemen. Upon seeing them, Soyolt told them that he has been arrested by the Chinese police and asked them to contact his family and the Mongolian Embassy in Beijing immediately on his behalf. Purevsuren contacted Soyolt’s family immediately to inform the family members of what had happened to Soyolt in Beijing.
Soyolt’s family members in Ulaanbaatar immediately sent an appeal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia calling for Soyolt’s immediate release. The Ministry acted promptly to contact the Chinese authorities and assigned Soyolt’s case to its foreign affairs officer, Mr. Boldoo. Since the arrest, Soyolt’s family has been in frequent contact with the foreign affairs office.
On January 11 [2008], according to Tuyaa, Soyolt was forced by the Chinese authorities to contact Purevsuren by telephone from Beijing to tell him that he is still being held in Beijing for “some issue” with his passport, and asked Purevsuren and others not to reveal anything about his arrest to any foreign news media in order not to “make things worse”. Under this threat, family members and friends of Soyolt have kept quiet and waited for his release until fairly recently. However, a series of official notes and requests by the Mongolian Government regarding the case have been completely ignored by the Chinese Government.
Soyolt’s wife, Ms. Tuyaa accompanied by Mr. Purevsuren travelled to Beijing on January 28 [2008], and met with officials of the Embassy of Mongolia to Beijing. On January 31 [2008], on behalf of Soyolt’s family members, Mr. Badamnyambuu, director of the Consular Office of the Embassy, and Purevsuren visited Public Security authorities in Beijing and met with a top official there to express their concern on Soyolt’s case. The Beijing Public Security authorities confirmed that Soyolt did enter China through Beijing Capital Airport on January 6, 2008 even though they had previously repeatedly denied any knowledge of Soyolt’s whereabouts.
SMHRIC has contacted the Consular Office director Badamnyambuu in Beijing however he declined to provide any information on the case, stating that “it is inappropriate for me to explain it over the phone”. SMHRIC also contacted the Beijing Airport Security Department and the Custom Check Office over the phone. All refused to provide any information on the case.
Jiranbayariin Soyolt, a long-term dissident, human rights activist and one of the founding members of several exiled groups based in Mongolia, was born in central Southern Mongolia’s Shiliin-gol League. He was one of the leaders of the 1981 Mongolian Student Movement, a mass protest by ethnic Mongolian students and intellectuals against the Chinese Central Government’s plan for migrating 600,000 Hans into Southern Mongolia without any consultation with local Mongols. In 1992, he went into exile in the independent country of Mongolia and continued his human rights activities, criticizing the Chinese Government’s ethnic policy and defending the human rights of the Mongols in China. In 1993, Soyolt attended the World Mongolian Alliance First Congress in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, and gave a speech publicly criticizing China’s gross human rights violations in Southern Mongolia and called the Chinese ethnic policy as “a policy of ethnic cleansing and cultural genocide”. Later he was granted political asylum in Mongolia, and in 1997 he was granted citizenship of Mongolia under the Naturalization Act of Mongolia.
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
New technology could make Ivanhoe crude profit
Dan Healing, Calgary Herald
Published: Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The refining technology touted for use in Alberta's oilsands by co-founder Robert Friedland of Ivanhoe Energy Inc. is attracting investors and potential partners in droves, the billionaire financier said in an analysts' conference call Tuesday.
Friedland, whose Ivanhoe Mines discovered the massive nickel deposit at Voisey's Bay in Newfoundland and is now trying to develop a $3-billion gold and copper mine in Mongolia with partner Rio Tinto, discussed his energy company's purchase of three leases from Talisman Energy of Calgary and the $1.8-billion integrated oilsands project it hopes to build there.
Ivanhoe Energy estimates that completing a 30,000-barrel-a-day steam-assisted gravity drainage project with upgrader will cost about $60,000 per flowing barrel, a number analysts say is about two-thirds of the current cost of technology used in many existing projects. It could deliver its first synthetic sour crude oil in about five years.
The market apparently liked what it heard as Ivanhoe Energy shares continued a steady three-month climb to a 52-week high of $2.92, up two cents.
Here are Friedland's comments made during the call:
- On highlights of the Talisman purchase for a combination of cash and notes, announced last Thursday:
"The fact we are only required to pay $30 million on closing, out of $105 million, is a very significant value to Ivanhoe as it mitigates dilution at this stage in our company's development.
"We're very pleased Talisman has elected to take back certain rights to participate with us in these acquired leases and may also do so in respect of other Canadian heavy oil transactions which we are reviewing at this time and in the future. . . .
"The longer the period of time Talisman takes to back in, the greater the financial consideration to our shareholders."
- On locating its first HTL (heavy to light oil) project in the Alberta oilsands:
"Our stated goal has been to anchor the rollout of our HTL technology by securing a first-class heavy oil resource in Athabasca, given there is well more than a trillion barrels in place, and the world's largest heavy oil resource, in the Athabasca.
"It's clear this is a physical locale with no political risk that would be associated with an international development and in a location where the rollout and development of our technology is almost infinitely scalable."
- On growth potential in the Athabasca region:
"This first transaction has triggered an enormous amount of interest from other stranded resource owners in the Athabasca and, if we develop a following in the financial community and requisite currency in our common shares, the opportunity for acquisition of other known resources in the Athabasca is very profound."
- On potential international deals for HTL technology:
"At last count, I drew up a list and (there are) 17 countries, most of whom are national oil companies or are very close to national oil companies, with whom we've had intensive dialogues.
"This is a business that could go worldwide, reminding everyone there are about three barrels of heavy oil in the world for every one barrel of conventional light oil."
- On the technology Ivanhoe obtained by merging with Ensyn Group in 2005, a refining process which is said to be capable of converting bitumen to a transportable, partially upgraded synthetic crude without the use of diluent or natural gas, lowering operating costs by around $15 per barrel.
"In the second half of last year we completed the HTL testing phase in California after a multi-year effort.
"We took the detailed results of that testing program and distilled those results into comprehensive detailed financial models that clearly demonstrate the value-add of HTL technology.
"We also lined up a number of bankers and advisers. We pressed home our commercial discussions and we are continuing to do so both in Canada and internationally."
- On the two major initiatives in Ivanhoe Energy's reorganization proposed in March and endorsed at last week's general meeting:
"First, that Ivanhoe Energy . . . will dedicate itself primarily to developing heavy oil opportunities in North America and in particular to the Athabasca oilsands.
"It will also incorporate the HTL technology group and our California operations.
"All of our international operations will be carried out in a series of self-funding subsidiaries and we currently contemplate, at a minimum, one for Latin America, one for the Middle East and North Africa, and one for China, which will be based in our existing Sunwing (Energy) operations. . . .
"Secondly, this restructuring was complemented by management changes and a board reorganization. This appointed the person who is speaking as chairman, president and CEO, and reduces the board from 12 to a much more manageable and effective board of seven individuals."
- On his leadership:
"Our task is to create the kind of company we want and also to create significant shareholder value along the way.
"I've had some experience in doing this in my life and some modest success. I think we are now trained and we're up to the task of doing it again."
- On weather in northern Alberta and potential cold-related project risks:
"Everybody in the Athabasca has to deal with the weather.
"The weather is pretty miserable in Saudi Arabia as well, at the other end. (But) when you're near an HTL plant and it's running, it's a wildly exothermic process. It throws off a huge amount of heat."
Published: Wednesday, June 04, 2008
The refining technology touted for use in Alberta's oilsands by co-founder Robert Friedland of Ivanhoe Energy Inc. is attracting investors and potential partners in droves, the billionaire financier said in an analysts' conference call Tuesday.
Friedland, whose Ivanhoe Mines discovered the massive nickel deposit at Voisey's Bay in Newfoundland and is now trying to develop a $3-billion gold and copper mine in Mongolia with partner Rio Tinto, discussed his energy company's purchase of three leases from Talisman Energy of Calgary and the $1.8-billion integrated oilsands project it hopes to build there.
Ivanhoe Energy estimates that completing a 30,000-barrel-a-day steam-assisted gravity drainage project with upgrader will cost about $60,000 per flowing barrel, a number analysts say is about two-thirds of the current cost of technology used in many existing projects. It could deliver its first synthetic sour crude oil in about five years.
The market apparently liked what it heard as Ivanhoe Energy shares continued a steady three-month climb to a 52-week high of $2.92, up two cents.
Here are Friedland's comments made during the call:
- On highlights of the Talisman purchase for a combination of cash and notes, announced last Thursday:
"The fact we are only required to pay $30 million on closing, out of $105 million, is a very significant value to Ivanhoe as it mitigates dilution at this stage in our company's development.
"We're very pleased Talisman has elected to take back certain rights to participate with us in these acquired leases and may also do so in respect of other Canadian heavy oil transactions which we are reviewing at this time and in the future. . . .
"The longer the period of time Talisman takes to back in, the greater the financial consideration to our shareholders."
- On locating its first HTL (heavy to light oil) project in the Alberta oilsands:
"Our stated goal has been to anchor the rollout of our HTL technology by securing a first-class heavy oil resource in Athabasca, given there is well more than a trillion barrels in place, and the world's largest heavy oil resource, in the Athabasca.
"It's clear this is a physical locale with no political risk that would be associated with an international development and in a location where the rollout and development of our technology is almost infinitely scalable."
- On growth potential in the Athabasca region:
"This first transaction has triggered an enormous amount of interest from other stranded resource owners in the Athabasca and, if we develop a following in the financial community and requisite currency in our common shares, the opportunity for acquisition of other known resources in the Athabasca is very profound."
- On potential international deals for HTL technology:
"At last count, I drew up a list and (there are) 17 countries, most of whom are national oil companies or are very close to national oil companies, with whom we've had intensive dialogues.
"This is a business that could go worldwide, reminding everyone there are about three barrels of heavy oil in the world for every one barrel of conventional light oil."
- On the technology Ivanhoe obtained by merging with Ensyn Group in 2005, a refining process which is said to be capable of converting bitumen to a transportable, partially upgraded synthetic crude without the use of diluent or natural gas, lowering operating costs by around $15 per barrel.
"In the second half of last year we completed the HTL testing phase in California after a multi-year effort.
"We took the detailed results of that testing program and distilled those results into comprehensive detailed financial models that clearly demonstrate the value-add of HTL technology.
"We also lined up a number of bankers and advisers. We pressed home our commercial discussions and we are continuing to do so both in Canada and internationally."
- On the two major initiatives in Ivanhoe Energy's reorganization proposed in March and endorsed at last week's general meeting:
"First, that Ivanhoe Energy . . . will dedicate itself primarily to developing heavy oil opportunities in North America and in particular to the Athabasca oilsands.
"It will also incorporate the HTL technology group and our California operations.
"All of our international operations will be carried out in a series of self-funding subsidiaries and we currently contemplate, at a minimum, one for Latin America, one for the Middle East and North Africa, and one for China, which will be based in our existing Sunwing (Energy) operations. . . .
"Secondly, this restructuring was complemented by management changes and a board reorganization. This appointed the person who is speaking as chairman, president and CEO, and reduces the board from 12 to a much more manageable and effective board of seven individuals."
- On his leadership:
"Our task is to create the kind of company we want and also to create significant shareholder value along the way.
"I've had some experience in doing this in my life and some modest success. I think we are now trained and we're up to the task of doing it again."
- On weather in northern Alberta and potential cold-related project risks:
"Everybody in the Athabasca has to deal with the weather.
"The weather is pretty miserable in Saudi Arabia as well, at the other end. (But) when you're near an HTL plant and it's running, it's a wildly exothermic process. It throws off a huge amount of heat."
Ivanhoe expects Mongolian minerals law soon
Mongolia is expected shortly to approve long-awaited changes to its minerals law that could pave the way for a mining agreement for one of the world's biggest copper deposits, the head of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd has said.
Ivanhoe and mining group Rio Tinto have been waiting for government approval to press forward on the huge Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia's Gobi desert.
"The prime minister has vowed to conclude our agreement as soon as possible; parliament was in session this morning, it (changes to the minerals law) could be today. . . or it could come in the very near future," Executive Chairman Robert Friedland told the World Mining Investment Congress in London.
The firms pounded out an draft investment agreement last year that would give the government a 34 per cent stake in Oyu Tolgoi, but the deal was withdrawn.
Once the minerals law is amended, the government is expected to resume work with Ivanhoe and Rio Tinto to conclude the investment agreement for Oyu Tolgoi, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits.
Initial construction has started at Oyu Tolgoi, 80km north of the China-Mongolian border in the South Gobi Desert and northwest of the Chinese industrial city of Baotou.
The first shaft descending 1385m underground was completed in January and tunnelling on a second shaft has been under way.
Average annual production over the mine's life is expected to be 440,000 tonnes of contained copper in concentrate and 320,000 ounces of gold.
Rio Tinto paid $US303 million ($NZ392.7 million) for a 10 per cent stake in Ivanhoe in 2006 and it plans to double its interest when the investment deal is approved. Rio Tinto could raise its ownership to up to 43 per cent under an investment agreement.
Ivanhoe also plans to develop a coal mining project at Ovoot Tolgoi in the desert east of the copper and gold project.
Ivanhoe and mining group Rio Tinto have been waiting for government approval to press forward on the huge Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia's Gobi desert.
"The prime minister has vowed to conclude our agreement as soon as possible; parliament was in session this morning, it (changes to the minerals law) could be today. . . or it could come in the very near future," Executive Chairman Robert Friedland told the World Mining Investment Congress in London.
The firms pounded out an draft investment agreement last year that would give the government a 34 per cent stake in Oyu Tolgoi, but the deal was withdrawn.
Once the minerals law is amended, the government is expected to resume work with Ivanhoe and Rio Tinto to conclude the investment agreement for Oyu Tolgoi, one of the world's largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits.
Initial construction has started at Oyu Tolgoi, 80km north of the China-Mongolian border in the South Gobi Desert and northwest of the Chinese industrial city of Baotou.
The first shaft descending 1385m underground was completed in January and tunnelling on a second shaft has been under way.
Average annual production over the mine's life is expected to be 440,000 tonnes of contained copper in concentrate and 320,000 ounces of gold.
Rio Tinto paid $US303 million ($NZ392.7 million) for a 10 per cent stake in Ivanhoe in 2006 and it plans to double its interest when the investment deal is approved. Rio Tinto could raise its ownership to up to 43 per cent under an investment agreement.
Ivanhoe also plans to develop a coal mining project at Ovoot Tolgoi in the desert east of the copper and gold project.
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