Turquoise Hill Resources were down Monday after the mining company announced it's expecting a delay in developing its Oyu Tolgoi copper project in Mongolia due to the government's financing process.

Its shares were falling on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

The Vancouver-based company formerly known as Ivanhoe Mines said it continues to work toward finalizing project financing, and says that operations of the open-pit mine, commissioning of the concentrator and the ongoing export of concentrate from Oyu Tolgoi will continue.

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But it says it will likely to take some time to gain the necessary parliamentary consent, so funding and development of the Oyu Tolgoi underground will be delayed until matters with the Mongolian government can be resolved and a new timetable is set.

Turquoise Hill's primary operation is its 66 per cent interest in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver mine. Turquoise Hill is owned by Rio Tinto PLC.

The final cost for Oyu Tolgoi, including development, equipment, plant and property costs, has been pegged at $6.2-billion.