On July 19, Oyu Tolgoi presented an update on its production for the second quarter of this year, and reported a decrease in copper production and an increase in concentrate sales. Chief Executive Officer of Oyu Tolgoi Andrew Woodley said, “I am very pleased with the team’s continuing strong performance in the second quarter. Most importantly, our safety performance was excellent, and rates among the best in Rio Tinto and our peers in the industry. Our focus on cost reduction continues to move the business towards a lower cost base and we continue to build on operational productivities, a priority as we have moved into zones with lower gold grades in the open pit. With these outcomes and the underground development progress the team is positioning the business well for the future.” The company reported that concentrator throughput of the second quarter was broadly consistent with the first quarter, and resulted in average throughput of approximately 105,000 tons per day for the quarter. As expected, copper production in the second quarter declined by 10.3 percent over the first quarter, reflecting lower grades from reduced mining in Phase 2 and lower recovery from Phase 6 ore. Gold production in the second quarter also declined by approximately 52 percent over the first quarter due to lower grades from reduced mining in Phase 2. Concentrate sold in the second quarter increased by 6.7 percent compared to the first quarter in 2016.