Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN) and BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) said they
have found a new copper-molybdenum-gold zone just north of the
massive Oyu Tolgoi mining project in Mongolia, one of the world's
largest copper-gold developments.
Ivanhoe owns 66% of Oyu Tolgoi, which is under construction,
while the Mongolian government owns 34%.
The new zone of shallow mineralization, Ulaan Khud North, is on
an exploration licence that is part of an Ivanhoe joint venture
with BHP formed in 2005. BHP has earned a 50% interest in the joint
venture, which includes the Ulaan Khud North property, by spending
$8 million in exploration costs and conducting an airborne survey,
Ivanhoe said.
Another global mining giant, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO), holds a big
stake in Ivanhoe.
Ivanhoe Chief Executive Robert Friendland said the discovery
extends the known strike length of the Oyu Tolgoi mineralized
system by three kilometers to the north, to more than 23
kilometers, and strengthens Ivanhoe's belief "that with continued
exploration there is excellent potential to discover new porphyry
deposits, rich in copper and gold, which are associated with the
world-class Oyu Tolgoi mineralized trend."
A pre-mining agreement for the Ulaan Khud North property
provides Ivanhoe and BHP with a three-year window for further
exploration and preparation of studies on the project.
-By Carolyn King, Dow Jones Newswires; 416-306-2100;
carolyn.m.king@dowjones.com