HONG KONG--Mongolian coal company SouthGobi Resources Ltd.
(1878.HK) said Monday it was notified by the Mongolian antigraft
regulator that its chief legal counsel, Sarah Armstrong, is no
longer a suspect in the agency's investigations and will be able to
leave the country.
SouthGobi, controlled by Anglo-Australian resources giant Rio
Tinto PLC (RIO), said in October that Ms. Armstrong, an Australian
national, was required to remain in Mongolia to help authorities
probe corruption allegations.
Mongolian officials earlier said Ms. Armstrong's assistance was
needed in the investigation of the former chief of Mongolia's
mining authority, who is suspected of illegally handling mining
licenses.
SouthGobi said in its statement issued today that the Mongolian
Independent Authority Against Corruption "has concluded its
questioning of the SouthGobi's Chief Legal Counsel Ms. Sarah
Armstrong and that she is no longer a suspect in their
investigations." The agency, however, is continuing its
investigation, including the sale of "certain SouthGobi licenses to
third parties, and the involvement and conduct of government
officials in connection with this."
Mongolia, which has huge and still lightly exploited mineral
reserves, has been a prime beneficiary of a mining boom in recent
years. But resource nationalism has delayed some major
foreign-backed projects and thrown others into uncertainty.
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