VANCOUVER – Ivanhoe Mines chief executive Robert Friedland said Monday that potential buyers are sniffing around the company’s assets.
The company, which is developing the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, said it has has received detailed, written expressions of interest on potential asset sales that “could realize significant capital to support the ongoing development of Oyu Tolgoi.”
In addition to its stake in 66 per cent stake in Oyu Tolgoi, Ivanhoe holds a 57 per cent interest in Mongolian coal miner SouthGobi Resources, 54 per cent stake in Ivanhoe Australia (TSX:IVA) and a 50 per cent interest in Altynalmas Gold Ltd., a private company developing a gold project in Kazakhstan.
Ivanhoe presented a plan to Rio Tinto, its partner on the project and majority shareholder in the company, earlier this month regarding the financing for the completion and start-up of the Oyu Tolgoi mine.
“Both companies have exchanged proposals and we are continuing to work together in an attempt to reach agreement on a comprehensive financing approach that will accommodate our mutual interests in advancing Oyu Tolgoi’s development,” Friedland said in a statement.
The comments came as Ivanhoe (TSX:IVN) also said Rio Tinto has started talks with Ivanhoe’s independent directors on a number of governance and management matters.
Under a 2010 agreement, at least eight of the 14 directors must be independent, based on Canadian and U.S. securities laws, until the earlier of Jan. 18, 2014 or when Ivanhoe ceases to be a Canadian public company.
Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce 1.2 billion pounds of copper and 650,000 ounces of gold per year in the first decade of operation.
Local news from metronews.ca/vancouver
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