Erdenet

Erdenet is the second-largest city in Mongolia and the capital of the aimag (province) of Orkhon. Located in the northern part of the country, it lies in a valley between the Selenge and Orkhon rivers about 150 miles (240 km) northwest of Ulan Bator, the capital.

The city was built in 1975 to exploit Asia's largest deposit of copper ore and has the fourth largest copper mine in the world. The "Erdenet Combine" is a joint Mongolian-Russian venture, and accounts for a majority of Mongolia's hard currency income.