Business Mongolian copper Halfway to where?
商业 蒙古铜矿 半程去何方？彷徨，宝石山下倚彤妆
A massive mining project hits a snag
一个庞大的矿业项目遭到意外困难
IN THE endless brown wastes of the Gobi desert in the south of Mongolia huge blue structures are springing up.
在蒙古南部一望无际的棕色戈壁沙漠荒原上，庞大的蓝色建筑物拔地而起。
Some 18,000 workers are employed on Oyu Tolgoi, or "Turquoise Hill", the largest undeveloped copper and gold mine in the world.
大约18，000名员工为世界上尚未开采的最大铜金矿山，奥尤陶勒盖（意为"绿宝石山"）工作。
Rio Tinto, the mining giant that is managing the project, flew its chairman, Jan du Plessis, to the site for a ceremony on September 25th to mark the halfway point of the first phase of construction.
正在经管这一项目的采矿业巨头力拓公司的董事长杜立石飞临现场，参加了9月25日的一项庆典，这标志着矿山建设的第一阶段已经完成了一半。
Celebrations were hardly marred by rumblings of discontent back in the capital, Ulaanbaatar, from Mongolian politicians.
这些庆祝几乎没有受到来自首都乌兰巴托的蒙古政治家们不满叫嚣的干扰。
But since then the rumblings have got louder, worrying not just Oyu Tolgoi's investors, but all those gleeful at the prospect of a prolonged mining-led boom in the country.
但从那时起叫嚣声变得更为响亮了，对此感到担忧的不仅是奥尤陶勒盖的投资方，还有所有因采矿业为这个国家带来的长期繁荣前景感到兴高采烈的人们。
A group of 20 members of parliament signed a petition in early September asking the government to reopen negotiations on the 2009 "Investment Agreement" that set the $10 billion project in motion.
9月初，20名国会议员在一份请愿书上签字，要求政府就2009年的"投资协议"——这一协议启动了这项耗资一百亿美元的项目——重开谈判。
That could be dismissed as populist political noise ahead of elections due next year.
人们可以把这当作为明年大选造势的平民主义政治喧嚣而不予理会。
But by the end of the month, it had become the basis of a formal request from the government to Ivanhoe Mines of Canada, which has a 66% stake in the company that owns the mine and is in turn 49% owned by Rio.
但到9月末，这已经成了政府向加拿大艾芬豪矿业公司提出的正式要求的基础；力拓公司持有艾芬豪公司49%的股份，而后者则持有这座矿山的拥有者公司中66% 的股份。
Opening parliament this week, the speaker, who sits on the National Security Council, voiced his support for a renegotiation.
本周宣布议会开幕的议长——他也是国家安全委员会的成员——表示支持重开谈判。
The main demand is to bring forward the date when the government has the option to increase its 34% share in the project to 50%.
他们的主要要求，是让政府可以提前选择将其在此项目中的股份由34%增加到50%的时间。
At present, its share—which was financed by a loan from Rio—cannot rise until 2040.
根据现有协议，政府的股份——由力拓的一项贷款提供资金——要到2040年才可以增加。
The government also wants to impose a "sliding-scale royalty" on the project.
与此同时，政府想对这一项目征收"浮动权利金"。
This week, Ivanhoe and Rio shot back a letter saying the agreement was not up for renegotiation.
艾芬豪与力拓本周在回信中声称该协议没有谈判余地。
All they will concede is that, under its terms, the government is within its rights to ask for talks. They are adamant, however, that the terms cannot be changed.
他们做出的仅有让步是，政府有权按照协议规定要求对话。但他们认定，协议条款绝无更改可能。
The mining companies point out the huge benefits the project brings in terms of employment, tax revenue and foreign exchange.
这两家矿业公司指出了这一项目在就业、税收与外汇方面带来的庞大利益。
By 2020, when it will be producing 450,000 tonnes of copper a year, which will be sold across the nearby Chinese border, it is expected to account for a staggering one-third of Mongolia's GDP.
当2020年矿山年产铜量达到450，000吨时，这些铜可以向不远处的中国出口，预期可占蒙古全国GDP的三分之一，一个令人惊叹的数字。
They also argue that, with the copper price falling, a renegotiation might leave the government in a worse position.
他们还认为，随着铜价下跌，重开谈判可能对政府不利。
The current agreement has the effect of insuring its equity stake against market risk.
现有的协议具有保证其股权不受市场风险影响的作用。
The investors feel some Mongolians do not understand that, because of taxes and royalties, the government's 34% share grossly understates the benefits it will receive from the project.
投资者们感到，由于在税收与权利金上的收益，政府从这一项目得到的好处将远远超过表面上34%的股份，而一些蒙古人对此并不清楚。
Oyu Tolgoi is the poster project for a national mining boom that sees Ulaanbaatar crawling with foreign miners and their investment bankers.
奥尤陶勒盖是国家矿业兴隆的一个招牌式项目，它让外国矿业公司和他们的投资银行一起涌入乌兰巴托。
Of immediate concern are plans to raise billions of dollars through a multinational offering of shares in a huge coal project, Tavan Tolgoi, also in South Gobi province.
当前人们关心的，是以一个庞大煤矿项目的股权面向多国集资筹措数十亿美元的计划；该煤矿名为塔班陶勒盖，也位于南戈壁省。
Oyu Tolgoi already faces problems enough.
奥尤陶勒盖面临的麻烦已经够多的了。
Inter-governmental negotiations with China have yet to produce an agreement on its supply of power for the early years of production.
与中国举行的政府间谈判尚未达成投产初期一些年内由中国提供电力的协议。
Ivanhoe has been snapping at Rio for making "unauthorised remarks" about the project, and there is the small matter of $4 billion in bank finance to be raised.
艾芬豪一直对力拓有关这一项目的"非正式评论"十分不满，另外还有筹集四十亿美元银行贷款的小事。
So the government needed a face-saving way out of the latest fine mess it had gotten the project into.
因此，政府需要以一种体面的方式摆脱他们造成的这一项目的最新尴尬局面。
On October 6th it issued a joint statement with the foreign partners saying they had settled their differences, without amending the Investment Agreement.
10月6日他们与外国合伙人发表了一项联合声明，宣称各方已在不修改投资协议的情况下达成了一致。
Rio and Ivanhoe will be relieved.
力拓和艾芬豪可以安心了。
But it will still have to deal with the disgruntled parliamentarians, not to mention voters.
但心怀不满的国会议员还是需要安抚，更遑论选民们了。