Erdenet

Erdenet (Mongolian: Эрдэнэт, literally "with treasure") is the third-largest city in Mongolia and the capital of the aimag (province) of Orkhon. Officially known as Bayan-Öndör sum.

Located in the northern part of the country, it lies in a valley between the Selenge and Orkhon rivers about 150 miles (241 kilometres) (as the bird flies) northwest of Ulaanbaatar, the capital. The road length between Ulaanbaatar and Erdenet is about 230 mi (370 km).

History

Erdenet, one of the youngest settlements in Mongolia, was founded in 1974 in an area where large deposits of copper had been discovered in the 1950s. A single-track railway line with a length of 75 mi (121 km) linking Erdenet to the Trans-Mongolian Railway was inaugurated in 1977. In the middle of the 1980s, more than 50% of the inhabitants were Russians working as engineers or miners. After the fall of Soviet Communism in 1990, however, most Russians left Erdenet. Today about 10% of the population is Russian.

Erdenet Mining Corporation