Edward Rochette, a hard-bitten American lawyer and a veteran of mineral exploration in 56 countries, pulls up a stool in the Square Grill Pub in central Ulan Bator and contemplates Mongolia's 21st century gold rush. The plush bar, with its fancy chairs and finger food, does not feel like an outpost of adventurers seeking their fortunes, but as it fills, the voices ordering the drinks are of Australian mining executives, British financiers and overseas-trained Mongolian consultants. They are here seeking coal, copper and gold – and lots of it.
"This is the place to be," declares Rochette as he extols the nation's virtues. "This is a frontier town."
Rochette's view of a land of opportunities is one at odds with many in this country, where about half the population live in tents (known as gers) and make their living from herding animals. Delicately poised between China and Russia, the buffer state is the size of Western Europe – but with just 3 million people, it is one of the least populated places on Earth.
However, Mongolia's fabulous reserves of gold and copper mean that it is on the brink of transformation, potentially making its people extremely rich. The International Monetary Fund expects the Mongolian economy to grow by 9.8 per cent this year – faster than China's.
The dramatic change in society is clear everywhere, no more so than on the streets of the capital where the manure from the horses of tribesmen is squelched beneath the wheels of the 4x4s of the new rich stuck in its traffic jams.
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