A/HRC/43/45/Add.2 C. Oyu Tolgoi 54. The Independent Expert had the opportunity to visit Oyu Tolgoi mine, which is located in Khanbogd District in Umnugovi Province. The project started more than a decade ago and was made possible with the managerial and technological investment of Rio Tinto, the commitment of the Government and the contributions of a range of public and private lenders, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank Group. 55. Having lived in the province for centuries, communities of nomadic herders have thus been cohabiting with the mine since the beginning of this large-scale project. Herders, who move around freely, sustaining their livelihood on the region’s pastureland and making the best of the desert’s scarce water resources, have seen the region change drastically over the last years. 56. A total of 34 per cent of Oyu Tolgoi’s shares are owned by the Government and managed by Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi, a State-owned company. The remaining 66 per cent is owned by Turquoise Hill Resources, a company whose major shareholder is Rio Tinto. Oyu Tolgoi’s sales revenue in 2018 amounted to $1.18 billion, and taxes, fees and other payments to the Government amounted to $200 million.64 From 2010 to 2019, the company spent $9.5 billion overall in Mongolia in salaries, payments to Mongolian suppliers, taxes, donations and other payments to the Government. The project, currently employing thousands of people, includes an open pit mine (phase 1) and the future underground mine (phase 2), intended to be in operation soon.65 57. Oyu Tolgoi’s efforts to create jobs in the region and to support local businesses through its procurement policy should be highlighted. In 2018, 95 per cent of the workforce was locally recruited, in compliance with the cap of 10 per cent on foreign workers provided for in the mining sector’s legislative framework. 66 Oyu Tolgoi is also committed to promoting gender equality among employees and creating more equal opportunities for women. Nevertheless, these efforts should also be integrated into targeted policies to balance the structural asymmetric distribution of unpaid care work responsibilities among men and women. The enterprise’s commitment to ensuring health and safety is notable and stands out within the industry, although some gaps need to be addressed.67 58. In 2012 and 2013, two groups of local herders submitted complaints to the World Bank Group’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman about the mine’s resettlement plan of 2004 and economic displacement compensation programme of 2011. Their complaints outlined specific concerns that the diversion of the Undai River for the mine would deplete local water sources, deteriorate pastureland and threaten the community’s spiritual practices. They also alleged that they had been inadequately compensated. In 2017, an agreement was reached between Oyu Tolgoi, the local authorities and herder communities. In this regard, the Independent Expert would like to salute the engagement of all three parties in the mediation process and commend them for reaching an agreement after years of mediation and taking into account the intrinsic power imbalances among the parties involved. 59. A total of 200 square kilometres of pastureland have been reallocated due to the mining activities. Herder communities who have been using the land for generations have had to expand their pasture practices and look for other grazing areas, resulting in potential pressure on other herder families already living there. In addition, dust from the mining operations has reportedly been affecting animals, and waste rock dump has been affecting pastureland and spiritual practices.68 Despite progress on some issues, such as the paving of 64 65 66 67 68 Oyu Tolgoi, Year in Review: 2018 (Ulaanbaatar, 2019), pp. 18–19. Oyu Tolgoi, Past, Present and Future: Summary Version (Ulaanbaatar, 2018), p. 16. Christopher Melville and Erdenedalai Odkhuu, “Mining in Mongolia: overview”, Thomson Reuters, 1 July 2019. See ILO, “Briefing note”. See Tripartite Council of Khanbogd soum, Umnugovi aimag, Multidisciplinary Team and Independent Expert Panel Joint Fact-finding: Summary of the Experts’ Reports (Oxford, JSL Consulting, 2017). Available at http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/cases/documentlinks/documents/MDTIEP_FINALREPORT_ENG_January292017_001.pdf. 11