By Ernest Scheyder
(Reuters) -Ivanhoe Mines is in constant dialogue with sovereign wealth funds for potential investments aimed at supporting the company’s push to boost production of copper and other critical minerals, Co-Chairman Robert Friedland told Reuters on Wednesday.
Vancouver-based Ivanhoe said earlier on Wednesday that Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund would invest $500 million as part of what Qatari officials said is a goal of “finding, developing, and sustainably supplying the critical minerals essential to global energy transition and advanced technology applications.”
Ivanhoe has operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa, with exploration projects underway in Angola. Friedland, Ivanhoe’s third-largest shareholder, cited an interest in growing elsewhere in Africa and parts of Asia.
Friedland said Qatar’s investment opens doors, especially in predominantly Islamic countries where he believes there are large, untapped mineral deposits. Roughly 65% of Qatar’s population is Muslim and much of the country’s wealth comes from natural gas production.
Ivanhoe, which counts two Chinese companies as its largest investors, has been among the more prominent users of advanced imaging, artificial intelligence and other high-tech methods to better find geological deposits.
Asked if Ivanhoe is in talks with other potential investors, Friedland said: “We’re in constant dialogue with sovereign partners. They always want more. We have ambitions to grow Ivanhoe Mines into a world-leading mining organization.”
Friedland declined to share details, but added that Ivanhoe was not interested in partnering with hedge funds.
“We are kind of allergic to hedge funds named after Greek gods,” he said, without naming specific investors. “Their investment horizon is sometimes measured in a millionth of a second.”
He characterized the global rush for critical minerals and the potential to find new deposits as similar to the western U.S. mining rush of the late 19th century. “In my 40 years in the industry, I’ve never seen so much interest in critical raw materials,” he said.
Ivanhoe is intrigued about developing titanium projects in Ukraine, he said, but not while the country is in conflict with Russia. The company has no interest in deep-sea mining projects, he added.
Friedland is also the largest investor in Sunrise Energy Metals, which said on Tuesday it is under consideration for potential funding from the U.S. Export-Import Bank for its Australian scandium project.
(Reporting by Ernest Scheyder; Editing by Veronica Brown and Jamie Freed)
