Rio Tinto on Tuesday sent off its first shipment of copper concentrate from Oyu Tolgoi, a giant copper and gold mine in South Gobi region of Mongolia under its management.

Sixteen trucks carrying 576 tons of copper concentrate drove to Mongolian-Chinese border crossing of Gashuun Sukhait. The shipment was delayed twice because of a stand-off between the Mongolian government and the Anglo-Australian mine.

Mongolian Prime Minister Altankhuyag Norov hailed the shipment as a great achievement, saying "today is a big first step in moving from a world-class construction project to a world-class copper business."

Mongolia owns 34 percent of Oyu Tolgoi LLC, with the rest owned by Rio Tinto through its Canadian unit Turquoise Hill Resources.