Mongolian mine to affect water supply?: "Oyu Tolgoi was 94 percent complete in July and is slated for commercial production in the first half of 2013. The Mongolian government holds a 34 percent stake in the project, expected to account for about 30 percent of Mongolia's annual economic output.
The mine, in the South Gobi desert region, holds an estimated 41 billion pounds of copper and 21 million ounces of gold, The New York Times reports.
The region covers an area of 135 square miles and is home to 3.8 million livestock, including camels, horses, cows, sheep and goats, which require some 31,600 cubic meters of water each day.
That compares with the water needs of an estimated 10,000 cubic meters per day for residents in the sparsely populated region.
Extracting copper from the mine, however, is a water-intensive process.
A World Bank assessment indicated that in 2010, Oyu Tolgoi used about 67,000 cubic meters of water a day and the government-owned Tavan Tolgoi coal mine consumed 76,000 cubic meters daily."
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