SouthGobi Resources owns the right asset in the right place at the right time. The Hong Kong-listed Mongolian mining company is controlled by Ivanhoe Mines of Canada, and operates the Ovoot Tolgoi mine just 40km from the border with China.

Since March, Oovot Tolgoi has produced about 200,000 tonnes of coal a month, most of it destined for Chinese steel mines and power plants.