Green Fodder Program

Since 2021, the Company has committed to planting an area of approximately 200 hectares with fodder each year within the Ovoot mining license area, to demonstrate that agriculture and mining can coexist happily. The area in which the crop is planted each year was historically used for similar purpose many years ago under collective farming arrangements in place prior to the 1990 Democratic Revolution, after which such agricultural activities stalled.

This program has been and continues to be important in developing beneficial and trustful relationships with the true local community on the ground in the vicinity of the Ovoot mining license. Whilst creating local employment opportunities ahead of mine construction and operation, the local community also benefits through the provision of donated or subsidized feed for their livestock. This has assisted to sustain the health and wellbeing of their livestock, which has improved herd survival across extremely harsh winter periods. The end goal is to support the development of a local dairy and meat industry.

Education and Training

Aspire’s Education and Training Program launched in 2012 with the aim to enable young people from communities surrounding the Ovoot project to study for tertiary qualifications at Mongolian universities. To date more than 30 students have benefited, achieving qualifications in diverse array of fields including geology, accounting, medicine, mining, chemistry, and environmental science.

Access for youth in Tsetserleg and surrounding soums to tertiary education can be quite challenging given the remoteness from the larger cities where such programs are offered. The Company is proud to have invested in the development of these young people, and in turn the communities from which they originate.

Additional to providing scholarships enabling tertiary education, Aspire sponsors a technical and vocational training program called the ‘Northern Miner’s’ program, in partnership with the Erdenet Complex College. This program was developed in 2020 to support employment opportunities for Tsetserleg soum residents, by providing training to attain accreditation as truck drivers and heavy mobile equipment operators. Our aim is to uplift and upskill, ensuring sustainable livelihoods and opportunities for the local
communities in which we operate.

Since 2021, Aspire has been an integral sponsor of the Environmental Fellowship Program (EFP) provided to young professionals in Mongolia by the Zorig Foundation. Since its establishment in 1998, the Zorig Foundation has become one of the most well-known and respected NGOs operating in Mongolia with key areas of focus on Youth and Education, Good Governance and Community Development.

The EFP was initiated in 2010, and provides an 8-month program for young professionals interested in increasing their awareness and understanding of issues affecting the conservation and security of the Mongolian ecosystem. It is intended that the participants will fill future leadership roles helping to sustain and improve Mongolia’s ecological heritage.

Training provided through the EFP is designed to enable participants to become spokespersons and initiators in their communities, and to educate Mongolian civil society on environmental issues. Approximately 18 to 20 fellows under the age of 25 are selected to participate in the program each year, with eligibility criteria including that each applicant must have already displayed a level of dedication to environmental stewardship in his or her chosen career field.

Health Services

Aspire has made numerous contributions in support of Health Services in our host communities. Examples of some of the more significant contributions include:

• Funding to assist construction of a new hospital in Tsetserleg soum and renovation of a health clinic in Mogoin Gol bagh (sub-district);
• Donations of supplies in support of local response measures taken to monitor and control the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; and
• Partnership with ‘The Heart will not forget’ non-profit organisation, to facilitate mobile clinic health check-ups for children in Tsetserleg and Tsagaan-Uul soums by nationally renowned cardiac surgeon Dr. Boldsaikhan Bundan.