Dornod

Dornod is where the steppe becomes infinite. The eastern province hosts a representative portion of the largest intact grassland ecosystem on Earth—rolling terrain extending over 200 kilometers along the Chinese border at an average elevation of 800 meters. No mountains interrupt the view. No forests break the grass. This openness supports something remarkable: the Mongolian gazelle, whose herds constitute the largest remaining ungulate population in Asia. Tens of thousands of animals migrate across these plains in patterns shaped by rainfall and seasonal forage.

Soviet geologists came looking for something else. In the late 1970s, they discovered uranium deposits near the Mardai River—among the largest in Mongolia. Mining began in 1988 under Russian management, with ore railed 480 kilometers to processing facilities at Krasnokamensk in Siberia. Operations ceased in 1995 as the Soviet system collapsed, but the deposits remain: 13 identified sites containing an estimated 192,000 tonnes of uranium. In 2024, Mongolia and France reached a preliminary $1.6 billion agreement to develop the Dornod deposits—nuclear fuel for a world pivoting away from fossil energy.

The province's remoteness preserved what development might have destroyed. The Dornod Mongol Biosphere Reserve, designated by UNESCO, protects grasslands where pastoral lifestyles continue largely unchanged. But the uranium deal signals transformation. Oil exploration has begun. Mining interests are mapping the territory. By 2026, Dornod will test whether Mongolia can extract mineral wealth without fragmenting the ecosystem that makes its eastern steppe globally unique—a grassland wilderness caught between preservation and the periodic table's most valuable elements.