Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Ivanhoe says to list in Australia on Wednesday

KALGOORLIE, Australia, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Canada's Ivanhoe Mines Ltd (IVN.TO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) will list its Australian division on the Australian stock exchange on Wednesday, Ivanhoe's executive chairman, Robert Friedland said on Tuesday.

An initial public offer of 62.5 million shares priced at A$2 each closed on Aug. 1 oversubscribed, raising A$125 million ($116 million), Friedland said during an address at an outback mining conference.

Friedland first suggested the idea of an Australian listing two years ago during the same conference.

The new company will focus on prospecting for iron oxide, copper, gold and uranium in eastern Australia's Cloncurry mining district, he said.

Ivanhoe, which is 10-percent owned by Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz)(RIO.AX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), has been trying to nail down an investment agreement in order to start construction of the massive Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, considered one of the world's largest copper and gold deposits.

Ivanhoe already mines coal in Mongolia through its 80 percent-owned SouthGobi Energy group.

In Australia, Ivanhoe holds 100 percent of almost 2,460 square kilometres (950 square miles) of prospecting ground and a further 560 square km in partnership with Exco Resources Ltd.

Friedland is best known for his discovery of a large nickel deposit at Voisey's Bay in Newfoundland, Canada, which he sold for C$4.3 billion in 1996 to Inco, now part of Brazil's Vale

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