The Wire

The construction of a huge mine in the middle of the Gobi Desert was supposed to launch Mongolia towards economic prosperity. But ongoing tensions over profits and uncertainty over the environmental risks from the mine, have negatively impacted Mongolia’s herders. A little known arm of the Australian government played a significant role in the development in what is the largest foreign investment in Mongolia – the Oyu Tolgoi mine.

Anti-poverty and human rights groups have argued that Australia’s government’s involvement should have offered some safe-guards against the risks the people in Mongolia face during and after the construction of the mine.