HONG KONG, CHINA--(Marketwired - May 19, 2017) - SouthGobi Resources Ltd. (TSX:SGQ)(HKSE:1878) ("SouthGobi" or the "Company") announces the appointment of Mr. Wen Yao ("Mr. Yao") as a non-executive director of the Company, with effect from May 18, 2017.

Mr. Yao is currently a Managing Director of CIC Capital Corporation ("CIC Capital"), a wholly owned subsidiary of China Investment Corporation ("CIC"). Mr. Yao is responsible for CIC Capital's global investment in the metals and mining industry and management of its existing portfolio assets in the same sector. Prior to joining CIC Capital in 2015, Mr. Yao had been a Managing Director at the Legal and Compliance Department of CIC since 2010. He has extensive experiences and knowledge in legal aspects for the investment in public and private companies, post-investment management and compliance, risk management, corporate governance policies and various corporate matters. Prior to CIC, Mr. Yao was in private practice at leading international law firms in the United States (the "US") and the United Kingdom, representing public and private companies in a variety of industries, mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments and financings, venture capital financings, strategic alliance and joint venture transactions, public and private offerings, and cross-border transactions.

Mr. Yao received Master of Business Administration and Juris Doctor degrees from Kellogg School of Management and Pritzker School of Law of Northwestern University in the US, respectively.

Mr. Yao was nominated for appointment as a director of the Company by CIC pursuant to a contractual nomination right granted to CIC in connection with the convertible debenture issued by the Company in 2009.

About SouthGobi

SouthGobi, listed on the Toronto and Hong Kong stock exchanges, owns and operates its flagship Ovoot Tolgoi coal mine in Mongolia. It also holds the mining licences of its other metallurgical and thermal coal deposits in South Gobi Region of Mongolia. SouthGobi produces and sells coal to customers in China.