Bor-Öndör, Khentii

Bor-Öndör ( _mn. Бор-Өндөр), also written as Bor-Undur, Bor-Ondor, Bor-Under, Boro-Under, is a city ( _mn. хот) in Khentii Province in eastern Mongolia. Bor-Öndör is situated in Darkhan sum (district), but is administrated separately.

Geography

City is at an elevation of 1300 meters and is close to the northern semi-desert edge of the Gobi Desert.

Population

City population was 6,406 in 2001, and had grown to 8,510 by 2006.510 "Rural Poverty Reduction Programme": semi-annual report 2007 [http://www.rprpmongolia.mn/pdf/2007semi_annual_report_eng.pdf] ] . Bor-Öndör is the second most populous Khentii Province city after the capital Öndörkhaan.

Economy

Fluorspar mining and fluorspar concentrate production drive the the city's economy. The underground mine, open pit and mineral processing plant, which is the only mineral processing plant in the country, are the property of the Mongolrostsvetmet JV company. All fluorspar products are exported to the Russian Federation, Ukraine, and other countries by rail. [ "Mongolrostsvetmet" official site [http://www.mongolros.mn/index.php] ] .

There are 39,218 heads of livestock in Bor-Öndör. However, they do not have enough pasture land due to mining.

History

Fluorspar deposits were surveyed by Soviet geologists in the 1950s. In 1973, the Soviet-Mongolian (currently Russian-Mongolian) company was created, with 49% of shares held by the Soviet (now Russian) government and 51% by the Mongolian government. The mine, open pit mine, mineral processing plant and worker's housing were built by the Soviets. All production during that time was exported to the Soviet Union.

Transportation

Bor-Öndör has a railway connection to the Ulan-Ude - Ulan Bator - Beijing line (Trans-Mongolian Railway).

Unpaved roads connect Bor-Öndör with Darkhan sum centre (43 km) of Khentii Province and with the Khentii Province capital Öndörkhaan (144 km) via Darkhan. Unpaved roads also connect with the Khajuu-Ulaan mining settlement (43 km) and Ikhkhet (65 km), Airag (65 km), Dalanjargalan (59 km) sums of Dornogovi Province. Via Airag is connection with paved road Ulan Bator (360 km) - Choir (165 km) - Sainshand (187 km) - Zamyn-Üüd (277 km), and onward to Beijing.

References