In a Hong Kong stock exchange filing, the company welcomed the expanded border crossing infrastructure, which it said would eliminate the “bottleneck at the border”

Prior to the eight new border gates on Monday, all coal transported out of Mongolia at Shivee Khuren-Ceke border crossing went through a single crossing gate approximately eight meters wide.

Generally, empty trucks would be admitted into Mongolia in the mornings and loaded trucks could export to China in the afternoons. The new gates create a significant increase in capacity by allowing for simultaneous export traffic, with two gates reserved for the inbound arrival of empty trucks.

Each of the eight gates will operate from 8am to 8pm six days per week.

SouthGobi Resources is focused on exploration and development of its Permian-age metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in Mongolia’s South Gobi Region. The company’s flagship coal mine, Ovoot Tolgoi, is producing and selling coal to customers in China.

SouthGobi Resources president and chief executive officer Alexander Molyneux said: “Our daily transportation record for the old border infrastructure was actually achieved last week at 409 trucks – which crossed from Mongolia to China. [That is] approximately 37,000 tonnes of coal.

“We believe the new infrastructure will eliminate the ‘bottleneck’ at the border for quite some time. The expanded border crossing should also reduce transportation costs because of more efficient truck utilization for the transport companies.”