Mongolia asks Rio Tinto to mutually cancel Oyu Tolgoi’s deal

Mongolia’s government is said to be actively seeking to cancel a deal with Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) governing a $6.75 billion expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in the Gobi Desert, as it looks to replace it with a new agreement.

Rather than acting unilaterally, which would risk future foreign investment projects, local authorities have suggested Rio Tinto to mutually terminate the plan. The end goal, Financial Times reports, is to reach a new agreement more beneficial to Mongolia.

Ulaanbaatar threatened in early January to halt construction at the mine, arguing that delays and higher-than-expected costs had eroded the economic benefits the country had hoped for.