New Vice Chairman & 3 new directors elected at Ottawa Annual Meeting

Elected to the Board of Directors on April 19 at our 22nd Annual General Meeting in Ottawa were a new Vice Chairman, Frank Herbert (Centerra Gold), and three new directors. Mr. Herbert takes the place of Ken deGraaf (deRandt Enterprises) who asked to step down as Vice Chairman but remains on the board as a director. Tobin Robbins (Heenan Blaikie LLP) was chairman of the Nominating Committee. All other incumbent officers and board members were reelected to one-year terms expiring at the 2013 Annual General Meeting. Please see “Officers and Staff” for the complete list.

Vice Chairman: Frank Herbert, General Counsel, Centerra Gold (Toronto, Ontario) -- Frank Herbert has been the General Counsel of Centerra Gold Inc. since 2004. Centerra is one of the most senior Canadian corporate members of the NAMBC. Frank is responsible for management of the company’s legal issues, including those relating to Centerra’s principal operating mines in Mongolia and the Kyrgyz Republic and exploration joint ventures in Russia and Turkey.

Previously, he was in private practice as a partner with a major Canadian law firm, where he provided advice to clients on a variety of corporate, securities and commercial matters, especially in the natural resources sector. Frank also practiced with a leading firm in London, UK, where he focused on international natural resource transactions and joint ventures. He received his LLB from Queen’s University (1986) and his BA from the University of Toronto (1983).

Director: Robert Maitland Cathery, CAML (London, UK) -- A member of the London Stock Exchange since 1967, Bob is a non-executive director of NAMBC Member Central Asia Metals Ltd (CAML). He takes the place of Alexander Capelson, who retired from the NAMBC board this year. Bob has over 40 years’ experience in London financial markets. Bob served as the Managing Director and Head of Oil and Gas of Canaccord Capital (Europe) Ltd from 2001 to 2005. Previously, he was the Head of Corporate Sales for SG Securities (London) Ltd. Bob is the founder of Salamander Energy PLC, where he is also a non-executive director.

Director:  Bill McHale, Vice President, Kanawha Scales & Systems, Inc. (Charleston, West Virginia) -- Bill McHale is Vice President and serves on the Board of Directors of Kanawha Scales & Systems, Inc., where he oversees international sales and marketing. He has been in the Weighing & Controls Industry since his graduation in 1970 from the State University of New York at Alfred with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a minor in Measurement Science. Bill was responsible for the design and development of the KSS Train Loadout Systems in 1978 and continues to be heavily involved with design and development direction of KSS High Speed Precision Train Loadout Systems. He has been employed with KSS since 1974. Prior to that, Bill was the Sales Manager for Carolina Scales in Colombia, SC, from 1970 to 1974. He is Past President of both the National Industrial Scale Association (NISA) and the International Society of Weighing & Measurement (ISWM).

Director:  Ambassador Pamela J. Slutz, former US Ambassador to Mongolia (Kerrville, Texas) – Ambassador Slutz joined the U.S. Department of State in 1981 and officially retires in April 2012.  She served as President George W. Bush’s ambassador to Mongolia (2003-2006) and President Barack Obama’s ambassador to Burundi (2009-2012). Pam is married to Ronald J. Deutch. Ron served as the Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar (1997-1999).  Between the two of them, Pam and Ron have worked in U.S.-Mongolia relations for nearly 10 years. During her 31-year career, Pam served overseas in Kinshasa, Zaire (1982-84); Jakarta, Indonesia (1984-87 and 1999-2001); Shanghai, China (1991-94); the American Institute in Taiwan (2001-03), and Nairobi, Kenya (2006-2009).  She also served in Washington in the Office of Korea Affairs (1981-82); the Office of China and Mongolia Affairs (1995-97); and the Office of East Asian and Pacific Regional Security and Policy Planning (1997-99).  She was a member of the US Delegation to the Nuclear and Space Talks with the USSR in Geneva, 1987-89.  Pam is a graduate of Hollins University (B.A., Politics) and the University of Hawaii (M.A., Asian Studies and Political Science), where she was also an East-West Center Fellow.

Frank Herbert, Centerra Gold, Vice Chairman

Robert Cathery, CAML

Bill McHale, Kanawha Scales & Systems

Ambassador Pam Slutz

NMNH Khoton 2011 Project produces valuable archeological data

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (NMNH), a member of the NAMBC, last summer successfully completed  the first year of its two-year Mongolia-US “Khoton Project” at Khoton Nuur in the northern edge of the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia. The Mongolian and American team led by NMNH excavated 15 sites, which produced a large trove of data from a variety of settlement, ritual, and mortuary sites dating from Paleolithic to modern times. Hundreds more sites were located and described. The extensive data from Khoton provides archaeological context for the huge corpus of rock art in the surrounding hills. Mapping data will provide broad environmental context for archaeological excavations and rock art documentation.

Included in this year’s excavations were an Early Bronze Age ritual structure dating circa 2000 BC, a large Late Bronze Age khirigsuur burial with an associated deer stone dating circa 900 BC, a burial of an old toothless man and his sumptuous last meal circa 300 BC, and a Pazyryk warrior with gold medallions dating 20 BC. . For further information, contact Dr. William Fitzhugh at the NMNH, FITZHUGH@si.edu

Read More + Additional Photographs

Pasyryk grave mound and pit being excavated

Mongolia booming economy, driven only  in part by rapid expansion in the mining sector, produced a sizzling 17.3% growth in real GDP for  2011 , according to preliminary estimates by Mongolia’s National Statistics Office. Mining was not the entire story: wholesale and retail  trade grew 42.5%, manufacturing 16%, construction 14.3%. According to the preliminary report, mining and quarrying showed 8.7% growth. This figure does not reflect the huge capital investments in mines, like Oyu Tolgoi LLC, that have not yet start producing.  Various estimates by foreign business observers and international organizations speculate that GDP growth in 2012 will be at least 20% and could soar as high as 46%.

Inflation is edging up as well. The Bank of Mongolia reported at the end of December 2011 that inflation in Ulaanbaatar increased 12.3% year-on-year; nationwide inflation was 10.2% year-on-year. The IMF calculated inflation as 14%.  Both the Bank of Mongolia and the IMF have warned the Government of Mongolia about inflationary risks. The IMF said that the rapid increases in government spending could push inflation above 18% in 2012 from 10.2% last year. In November 2011, the IMF cautioned that  macroeconomic policies were too expansionary, creating inflationary pressures and also increasing the economy’s vulnerability to external  shocks, such as sharp declines in global mineral prices. The IMF advised that the GoM’s first priority ought to be restraint in government spending and tightening monetary policies in order to  cool down  the overheated economy and provide some insurance against future commodity price shocks. The IMF estimated that in 2011, Mongolian Government spending jumped 50 percent in real terms.

Pebble crusher & ore tunnel at OT

OT coarse ore storage facility under construction

Investment climate candidly assessed by Canadian and US Ambassadors
at 14th Annual NAMBC Investors Conference in Ulaanbaatar

Both the Canadian and American Ambassadors to Mongolia delivered candid and wide-ranging speeches at our 14th Annual Investors Conference in Ulaanbaatar, saluting Mongolia’s remarkable achievements  in simultaneously building a democracy and a free market economy but cautioning about the need for increased stability, transparency and investor protection. The full texts of both speeches can be downloaded below.

[Read More]

Click here for full text of Ambassador Greg Goldhawk’s Keynote Address

Click here for full text of Ambassador Jonathan Addleton’s remarks

NAMBC's "Canadian Alumni of Mongolia" program is organizing as an independent self-governing NGO in Canada

The NAMBC is pleased to announce that two of the earliest members of our "Canadian Alumni of Mongolia" program (CAM) are organizing it as an independent, non-profit, self-governing NGO in Canada. Any Mongolian citizens who attended or are now attending high school, college, university, or technical training in Canada are eligible for membership, even if you did not graduate. CAM will be open to Mongolians who are permanent residents of Canada or are living in Canada with student or other temporary visa status as well as Mongolians living in other countries.

CAM's objectives are to: (1) promote Canadian education for Mongolian students; (2) promote establishment of a professional and social network for Mongolians in Canada; (3) promote outstanding achievements of alumni; (4) promote the exchange of ideas, and provide opportunities for continuing education; and (5) connect Mongolian graduates with Canadian companies and businesses that operate in Mongolia.

For further information, contact one of the two Co-Chairs of CAM: Bulgan Orgilsaikhan  at the Forbes & Manhattan Investment Bank in Toronto, borgilsaikhan@forbesmanhattan.com, OR   Saruul Ayurzana, BA, CMA, Adjunct Professor at Algonquin College, Saruula@gmail.com

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