Satellite Nomads

Abstract

The expanding mining process in Khanbogd sum [county], South Gobi aimag [province], has made noticeable impact on the native herders’ life and environment. Despite the negative impact on their nomadic livestock breeding, the local herders tend to coexist with the mine as a new economic source. For example, herders in Khanbogd request the mining company to designate their pasture land as a ‘mine impact zone’, and that they be employed at the mine to get a permanent salary. In this paper, we will show how local herders have adopted tactics for making their living by depending on the giant copper–gold mine. It seems to us that theirs is no longer a traditional way of nomadic livestock-breeding, but rather a brand-new form of mobile livestock-breeding orbiting the mine like satellites.