Aspire Mining Limited announced the signing of a non-binding MoU with JSC Russian Railway’s Mongolian subsidiary this week to discuss the expansion of the Trans-Mongolian Railway across northern Mongolia.
The MoU would explore the extension of the existing Trans Mongolian Railway at Erdenet through to Ovoot via the town of Moron. The project would be owned and operated by a partnership between Infrastructure Development, LLC, and Northern Railways, LLC, a subsidiary of Aspire Infrastructure, SteelGuru reports.
The MoU provides a framework for the companies to discuss the rail line expansion as well as investment and network rail capacity and integration.
“The securing of the MoU with Russian Railways represents a step forward in the development of infrastructure to support the Ovoot Coking Coal Project,” Aspire’s David Paull said, SteelGuru reports. “In addition, it demonstrates the importance of the Erdenet Moron Ovoot rail line to the economic and national interests of Mongolia. The development of this rail line would establish an important new source of export revenues for Mongolia and routes to seaborne markets via the Russian rail system.”
The Trans Mongolian Railway network is operated and developed by the Ulaanbaatar Railway Mongolian Russian Joint Venture. The government of the Russian Federation is a 50 percent shareholder, with the remainder held by the Mongolian Government.