Khanbumbat Airport

Umnugobi Khanbumbat Airport Ханбумбат нисэх буудал
IATA: none ICAO: ZMKB
Summary
Airport type	Public
Owner	Oyu Tolgoi LLC
Operator	ACH Services LLC
Serves	Khanbogd
Location	Khanbogd, Ömnögovi, Mongolia
Elevation AMSL	1,196 m / 3,924 ft
Coordinates	43°08′05″N 106°50′47″E / 43.13472°N 106.84639°E / 43.13472; 106.84639Coordinates: 43°08′05″N 106°50′47″E / 43.13472°N 106.84639°E / 43.13472; 106.84639
Website	http://ot.mn/
Map
ZMKB Location within Mongolia
Runways
Direction Length Surface m ft 15/33 3,250 10,663 Concrete PCN 57/R/B/W/T --/--  ?  ? Concrete
Statistics (2014)
Passengers 57,597
Sources: Civil Aviation Administration of Mongolia and the MCAA

Khanbumbat Airport (Mongolian: Ханбумбат нисэх буудал, also Oyu Tolgoi Airport) is an airport in Khanbogd, Ömnögovi, Mongolia. The airport's construction was funded by the adjacent Oyu Tolgoi mine. It is the second airport in passenger traffic in Mongolia after Chinggis Khaan International Airport. The airport serves nearly 100,000 passengers annually.

Canadian-based Ivanhoe Mines discovered the gold-copper ore deposit in 2001 in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia. It is in an area known as Oyu Tolgoi (Mongolian for Turquoise Hill), where in the time of Genghis Khan outcropping rocks were smelted for copper. By 2003 there were 18 exploration drill rigs on the property employing approximately 200 people, and Oyu Tolgoi was the "biggest mining exploration project in the world." In January 2013 Oyu Tolgoi started producing concentrate from the mine.

The old building of the airport was built in 2000-s. In 2004 the airport was called "Oyut Airport". The runway was dirt. In 2007 it started accepting passenger flights. The new airport was built in 2012. It opened on 10 February 2013.

The Khanbumbat Airport and Oyu Tolgoi mine is in the South Gobi Desert of Mongolia, 80 kilometres (50 mi) north of Mongolia's border with the People's Republic of China, where the mined copper is expected to be shipped. Oyu Tolgoi deposits contain (as of 2010) an estimated 79 billion pounds (35,833,000 tonnes) of copper, and 45 million ounces (1,275,000,000 grams) of gold. Production is scheduled to begin in 2013 and to reach full capacity in 2018. Over the anticipated lifespan of the mine (45 years), Oyu Tolgoi is scheduled to produce 450,000 tonnes (500,000 short tons) of copper per year, an amount equal to 3% of global production. Oyu Tolgoi is also expected to produce 330,000 ounces of gold annually. Rio Tinto intends to employ 3,000-4,000 people from Mongolia, so it was a need to build an airport. Khanbumbat Airport is located 207 kilometers northwest of the regional capital of the Dalanzadgad, and 522 kilometers southwest of the national capital of Ulan Bator.