By Tim Bowler
BBC News
Mongolia has for centuries been characterised as a nation of nomads and cattle herders, but this is all changing thanks to a huge new copper and gold mine.
The mine is Oyu Tolgoi, which is Mongolian for Turquoise Hill, and it is already beginning to transform the economy of this sparsely-populated central Asian nation, sending it towards the top of international growth tables.
But this year, there has been disagreement over the details of the contract between Rio Tinto and the Mongolian government. Ulaan Baatar wants Rio Tinto to explain why it has over-spent on the project by more than $2bn (£1.3bn).
The size of the ore deposit is staggering — running for some 20 miles beneath the Gobi Desert. When this mine is fully operational, in 2020, it will produce 450,000 tonnes of copper and 330,000 ounces of gold a year.