Turquoise Hill of Canada swings to loss on impairment charge at Mongolia mine

TORONTO, July 31 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto-controlled Turquoise Hill Resources said an impairment charge at the cash-generating unit of its Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia led to the company missing estimates for second quarter profit on Wednesday.

Turquoise Hill, which owns 66% of the mine, reported a loss of $736.7 million, or 22 cents a share, in the three months ended June 30, compared with a profit of $204 million, or 9 cents, a year earlier. That compared with analyst expectations for earnings of 3 cents a share.

Oyu Tolgoi, operated by Rio Tinto PLC and expected to become one of the mining company's most lucrative properties, produced 39,156 tonnes of copper and 71,825 ounces of gold during the quarter. (Reporting By Nichola Saminather; editing by Grant McCool)