* Mongolian Mining shares slightly higher than IPO price
* Suntien shares fell as low as 10 pct
* Investors cautious towards resources play
(Updates shares price, adds details and background)
By Kennix Chim
HONG KONG, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Shares of Mongolian Mining Corp, Mongolian's largest privately-held domestic producer and exporter of coking coal, were up 1 percent on their Hong Kong trading debut on Wednesday, following a $650 million IPO.
The disappointed debuts come after London-listed gold miner Petropavlovsk Plc's iron ore unit IRC Ltd halved the size of its Hong Kong IPO and another Mongolia-related firm Winsway Coking Coal made a weak debut on Monday.
Shares of Mongolian Mining, whose Ukhaa Ukudag (UHG) mine is roughly 245 km from Mongolia's border with China, was trading at HK$7.10 during morning trading, compared with its Hong Kong IPO price of HK$7.02, the middle of its indicative range.
Separately, China Suntien Green Energy, which operates a wind farm and a natural gas business, fell 4 percent lower at HK$2.55 on their Hong Kong trading debut on Wednesday, following a $369 million IPO.
Suntien's offering was priced at the top end of its indicated range at HK$2.66.
Hong Kong's appeal for Mongolian mining companies is its diversified investor base proximity to mainland China and China's hunger for Mongolia's copper, iron ore, gold and coal.
However, investors are still cautious about Mongolia-related resources companies as earnings growth and profitability are vulnerable to fluctuations as the domestic industry develops.
At the offering price, Mongolian Mining is valued at 12.6 times forecast 2011 earnings estimated by bookrunners.
By comparison, Hidili Industry trades at 13.5 times forecast 2011 earnings, while Fushan International Energy Group trades at 14.6 times, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Mongolia, the world's largest untapped copper and gold deposit mine, has drawn serious attention from global investors after the deal sealed last October between Ivanhoe Mines Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd to develop the $3 billion Oyu Tolgoi mine, one of the world's biggest untapped copper and gold deposits.
Now, Mongolia's domestic companies are seeking foreign capital to help them expand, and the government is trying to connect local companies and its stock market with the rest of Asia -- from Hong Kong to South Korea to Japan -- hoping to turn domestic names into regional or international brands.
Citigroup and JP Morgan are joint global co-ordinators and joint bookrunners for Mongolian Mining's IPO while Macquarie is handling Suntien's IPO. (US$1=HK$7.75) (Reporting by Kennix Chim, Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Ken Wills)