Friedland E.C. Africa focused & Potash One Co-CEORobert Friedland, Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. to Speak Today at AME BC-CIM-MEG Luncheon – 12:30
JANUARY 21, 2010
https://blog.amebc.ca/archives/542
Robert Friedland, Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. will be speaking today at the AME BC-CIM-MEG Luncheon, taking place in the Stanley Park Ballroom of the Westin Bayshore at 12:30.
Well known international financier Robert Friedland is still wearing the smile he caught in 2009 after his Ivanhoe Mines finally walked the Mongolian Government to the altar and they agreed to work together to build the long-anticipated copper-gold mining complex at Oyu Tolgoi.
As founder and Executive Chairman of Ivanhoe Mines, Robert has been living the Oyu Tolgoi story for nine years. He’s kept us updated on the project as exploration success piled on exploration success – and as Ivanhoe Mines found itself owner of the largest and highest grade undeveloped copper porphyry deposit in the world.
In October 2009, Ivanhoe and the Mongolian Government signed the long-awaited, long-term Investment Agreement for OyuTolgoi, which they aim to have in production in 2013. Shortly afterwards, Ivanhoe’s strategic partner Rio Tinto paid Ivanhoe Mines US$388 million to complete another stage of their private-placement financing agreement and Rio Tinto doubled its ownership stake in Ivanhoe to 19.7%.
In 2006, Robert was named “Mining Person of the Year” by Canada’s Northern Miner publishing group for his success in negotiating the partnership with Rio Tinto to develop the Oyu Tolgoi Project. The Northern Miner said the 2006 partnership was “a defining moment in one of the world’s biggest mineral-development success stories of the past decade.” It described Robert as “a dynamic force for a quarter-century in the minerals industry through a host of private and public-company vehicles.”
In 2009, the Northern Miner group named Robert one of Canada’s ‘Super Seven Dynamos’ who have track records of turning junior companies into major success stories.
He remains in the vanguard of North American natural-resource sector leaders who have pioneered business links in Greater China and the Asia Pacific region during the past 20 years.
Ivanhoe Mines, whose shares trade on the New York, NASDAQ and Toronto exchanges, also owns 83% of Ivanhoe Australia, which has announced major molybdenum, rhenium, copper and gold discoveries in Australia’s historic Mount Isa-Cloncurry mining district. Ivanhoe also owns 80% of SouthGobi Energy Resources, which is exporting coal to China from its initial mine on its Ovoot Tolgoi discoveries in southern Mongolia.
Robert is Co-Chairman and controlling shareholder of Africa-focused Ivanhoe Nickel & Platinum, which in April 2009 announced a major copper discovery of historic importance in the Democratic Republic of Congo. During 2009, he also became Chairman of Potash One, which is planning to develop a world-scale potash mine in Canada’s remarkable potash patch in Saskatchewan.
He was recognized with consecutive “Investor Envoy of the Year” awards from the Mongolian Government in 2003 and 2002.
In 1996, Robert was named “Developer of the Year” by the Prospectors’ and Developers’ Association of Canada for his work in establishing and financing companies engaged in mineral exploration and development around the world. He guided the development and sale of Diamond Fields Resources’ nickel discovery at Voisey’s Bay in Newfoundland, Canada, to INCO Ltd. for CA$4.3 billion in 1996. He also led the discovery and sale of Fairbanks Gold’s Fort Knox deposit in Alaska to Amax Gold for US$152 million in 1992.
In the energy field, Robert is co-founder, Executive Co-Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ivanhoe Energy, which is developing heavy-oil projects in Canada and Ecuador using its advanced, proprietary, heavy-oil upgrading technology. Ivanhoe Energy is listed on NASDAQ and the Toronto Stock Exchange. He also is Co-Chairman of Sunwing Energy, which is Ivanhoe Energy’s operating subsidiary in China and Southeast Asia.
Robert also is Chairman of Ivanhoe Capital Corporation, his family’s private company based in Singapore and Beijing. Ivanhoe Capital specializes in venture capital and project financing for international business enterprises, predominantly in the fields of energy, minerals and technology. With his leadership, Ivanhoe executives and affiliated benefiting companies have raised several billion dollars on international capital markets since 1993.
Mr. Friedland, who lives in Singapore, graduated from Reed College, Oregon, in 1974 with an undergraduate degree in political science.