Mongolia is ready to cooperate with foreign investors on a large coal deposit, said a minister at the 8th Coal Mongolia International Conference and Exhibition, which started on Tuesday.

The international event is being held after Mongolia decided to sell up to 30 percent of the Erdenes Tavan Tolgoi Company on domestic and international stock markets. Tavan Tolgoi is one of the world's largest untapped coking and thermal coal deposits, with a total estimated reserve of 6.4 billion tons.

Mongolian Minister of Mining and Heavy Industry Dolgorsuren Sumiyabazar said at the opening ceremony that Mongolia is ready to cooperate with foreign investors on the Tavan Tolgoi deposit.

Mining is expected to be a leading sector in Mongolia for the next 20 to 30 years, said Sumiyabazar, who hopes the annual conference will help attract more foreign investment for the Mongolian mining industry, especially coal mining.

The 8th Coal Mongolia International Conference and Exhibition has attracted 3,000 participants, including some 600 officials and investors from 15 countries such as China, Australia, Canada and Britain. The theme of this year's conference is "Together towards Technological Advancement."

During the two-day event, the participants will discuss ways to raise Mongolian coal competitiveness in Asia, to increase Mongolian coal exports and to introduce coal mining technology into Mongolia.

Coal is Mongolia's main export. The country extracted 26.3 million tons of coal in the first seven months of this year, according to Sumiyabazar.