Robert Friedland long ago perfected the ability to wring more money out of a mining project than anyone expected.
More than 15 years ago, Mr. Friedland was struggling to sell an unloved ore body on a Pacific Island. There were no takers, and Mr. Friedland lowered his price to $8-million. Still Mr. Friedland couldn't find a buyer.
Then suddenly, a rival executive showed interest in the project, and came to Mr. Friedland's office for a meeting.
"The guy says 'I'm going to offer you $15-million,' " recalls Ian Telfer, now head of Goldcorp but once a colleague of Mr. Friedland's at a junior gold miner.
"Friedland was absolutely stunned. Couldn't believe it. He turned his chair around to look out the window because he said he was starting to laugh. Then he turns around and says 'I won't sell it for a penny less than $30-million.' "
Soon, Mr. Friedland had a deal.
That salesman's touch, along with a measure of good fortune and a capacity for endless work, have helped to earn Mr. Friedland a fortune and a reputation as the best mining promoter there is. He helped cement that reputation yesterday when he unveiled a partnership with Rio Tinto PLC to develop the Mongolian gold and copper mine that has been his passion in recent years.
The Mongolian saga has much more in common with the tale of the Pacific deposit than it does with the more famous epic of Voisey's Bay, the rich nickel deposit that Mr. Friedland's explorers stumbled upon by chance while they were seeking diamonds.
That find made Mr. Friedland hundreds of millions of dollars when he sold his company to Inco Ltd.
It took Mr. Friedland three years of slogging to find a backer for the Mongolian mine before London-based Rio Tinto agreed to pay $345-million for a 9.95-per-cent stake in Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., the Friedland-run company that has the rights to the copper and gold deposit.