Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. says it will resume talks with the Mongolian government Monday to conclude an investment and profit-sharing agreement for the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project.

3-month TSX chart for Ivanhoe Mines3-month TSX chart for Ivanhoe Mines

The Mongolian parliament voted last week to authorize the government to conclude a long-term, definitive deal with Vancouver-based Ivanhoe and its partner, British-Australian global mining giant Rio Tinto, to develop and operate the Oyu Tolgoi mining complex.

Ivanhoe said Tuesday that the Mongolian government has indicated in a letter to the two companies that it seeks an agreement that is "mutually beneficial, fair and sustainable."

The new talks are yet another chapter in a story that began in February 2003 when Ivanhoe announced that its exploratory drilling in Mongolia's Gobi Desert had found "one of the world's largest copper and gold porphyry deposits."

Three years later, it was "surprised and disappointed" to learn that Mongolia was planning to impose a heavy tax on mining companies operating in the country.

3-month NYSE chart for Rio Tinto3-month NYSE chart for Rio Tinto

Later in 2006, Rio Tinto agreed to invest up to $1.7 billion in Ivanhoe, with the two companies planning to jointly engineer, construct and operate the mine.

In 2007, Ivanhoe announced it had worked out a draft agreement with the government over the Oyu Tolgoi project. However, that deal ended up getting derailed in parliament.

For another two years, the project remained in limbo as negotiations continued over the taxes Mongolia would collect and the size of the stake it would have in the mine.

Ivanhoe said last year that the project, about 80 kilometres north of the Mongolian border with China, may have copper resources of 78.9 billion pounds and gold resources of 45.2 million ounces.

News of the fresh talks failed to excite investors as shares of Ivanhoe fell 23 cents to $8.46 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The share price has swung from a low of $2.06 to a high of $12.22 during the past year. Rio Tinto shares declined $1.78, to $149.93 US on the New York Stock Exchange.

With files from The Canadian Press