Canadian mining company Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd reported Thursday that second-quarter profit rose 33.5% due to increased copper and gold production at Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi mine.
Copper prices hit an all-time high in May, driven by demand from electric carmakers and other clean energy investments. Gold also rose in the second quarter because of pandemic-related uncertainty and the weakness of the dollar made it more attractive as a safe haven.
Turquoise produced 36735 tons of copper from Oyu Tolgoi in the second quarter. Compared with 36495 ounces last year, its gold production more than tripled to 113054 ounces.
Turquoise Hill, owned by Rio Tinto, said revenue attributable to its owners for the three months ended June 30 was $96.9 million, or 48 cents a share, compared with $72.6 million, or 36 cents a share, in the same period last year.
Oyu Tolgoi is one of the largest copper, gold and silver deposits in the world. Rio owns 51 per cent of Turquoise Hill, while Turquoise Hill owns 66 per cent of the mine. The rest of the mine is owned by the Mongolian government.
