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To: Goose94 who wrote (11103)	3/2/2015 2:53:17 PM
From: Goose94	Respond to of 202988

PDAC2015 conference: Friedland tells junior minerals sector to look on the bright side A beaten down mining sector moved to give itself a lift by rolling out one of its superstar financiers at the start of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto Sunday. Singapore-based mining tycoon Robert Friedland has spent the last three decades building and financing mega mining projects on three continents. Since Rio Tinto PLC (RIO-NY) took control of the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia, Friedland’s Ivanhoe Mines (IVN-T) has lately turned his focus to copper, zinc, platinum and other metals in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. On Sunday, he opened the four-day PDAC conference by telling a commodities outlook seminar that “the ladies and gentlemen who go out and look for mineral deposits are the good guys.” He was referring to his long held view that far from being an environmental threat, the mining sector is a vital source of metals such as copper, platinum and zinc to a global population that is urbanizing at a rapid pace. By 2050, he predicted that 66% of the global population will be living in cities, a move that will only boost consumption of those metals. “In urban environments, people have become divorced form the supply chain,’’ Friedland said. “A lot of people think that a ham sandwich comes from a fridge,” he said. It is a message designed to lift a junior exploration sector that is locked in an entrenched recession, one that is making it very difficult for many of its participants to raise the money just to keep the lights on, left alone fund exploration at the project level. “It’s hard to say when things are going to come back,’’ said Bill Roscoe, Chairman Emeritus and Principal Geologist with RPA Inc., a Toronto based company which does project evaluations for mining companies. RPA has a client list that includes Fission Uranium (FCU-T) and Denison Mines (DML-T) Roscoe said it has become so challenging for juniors to raise money on traditional public markets that RPA is now doing a lot of evaluation work for private equity firms. It might explain why there appeared to be more empty booths than usual in the trade show area of the PDAC conference, which is expected to attract a crowd of 25,000 to the Toronto Convention Centre this week, including delegates from 103 countries. Regarded by many as the premier event on the mining calendar, PDAC is a key opportunity for attendees to network, listen to high profile speakers and generally gauge the state of the industry. One veteran industry official said the lack of new mineral discoveries and the fact that a lot of old projects are being rolled out and dressed up for possible sale is instructive, at least to him. “It is usually as sign that the industry has hit bottom,” said Michael Power, a Toronto-based consultant who has worked in the sector for nearly 50 years. For others, beaten up stock valuations, are more of an opportunity than a challenge. Bernard Guarnera, the President of Broadlands Mineral Advisory Services, a Nevada-based private equity fund, said he came to the conference in search of advanced stage projects that could be in production within 2 years. “These are projects that have largely been de-risked,” he said. Guarnera said there is a lot of money out there waiting to be invested in projects. But investors are afraid to spend it. “Conversely you now have some of the strongest economics for the hard commodities that I’ve seen in my lifetime,’’ he said. This is a reference to forecasts of declining mine supply for metals such as copper nickel, zinc and lead. During his speech, Friedland said some of the big copper mines in Chile are “like little old ladies waiting to die.” He predicted that demand for copper, for example, could get a lift from efforts to fight contamination in hospitals. He said anti-microbial copper could be sprayed on stainless steel surfaces in hospitals to remove the threat of germs. However, one industry official laughed at Friedland’s suggestion. “Why wouldn’t they just use plastic,’’ he said. Trading at 83 cents on Friday, Ivanhoe has a market cap of $576.4 million, based on 694.5 million shares outstanding. The 52 week range is $2.04 and 67 cents. Ivanhoe Mines is picking up a PDAC award this year for its Kamoa project in the DRC. It ranks as the world’s largest undeveloped copper discovery with an indicated resource of 43.5 billion pounds of copper, the company has said. Peter Kennedy, Stockhouse

To: Goose94 who wrote (11103)	3/23/2015 7:10:05 AM
From: Goose94	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 202988

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN-T) China-based Zijin Mining Group to acquire a 9.9% stake in Ivanhoe Mines March 23, '15 - NR Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (TSX: IVN), and Chen Jinghe, Chairman of Zijin Mining Group Co., Ltd., jointly announced today that Zijin has agreed to make a major investment in acquiring a significant minority stake in Ivanhoe Mines. Under terms of the agreement signed in Hong Kong, Ivanhoe Mines will issue 76,817,020 common shares to Zijin through a private placement at a price of C$1.36 per share, yielding gross proceeds of approximately C$105 million (US$82 million). Ivanhoe Mines will use the proceeds for working capital and general corporate purposes, including the advancement of the company's projects in southern Africa. Approximately 9.9% of Ivanhoe Mines' issued and outstanding common shares will become owned by a wholly-owned subsidiary of Zijin when the placement is completed. Mr. Friedland said Zijin's decision represents the first major commitment by an international mining company to provide support for all of Ivanhoe's development-stage projects in South Africa and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "We are delighted to welcome Zijin Mining both as an old friend of Ivanhoe Mines and a strategic investor that shares our long-term vision. We also have agreed to continue to explore additional opportunities to collaborate on the advancement of all three of our world-class projects," Mr. Friedland said. "In particular, Ivanhoe and Zijin are in detailed, friendly discussions about the strategic co-development of our Kamoa copper discovery in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kamoa's significance was further affirmed earlier this month when Ivanhoe's Kamoa Discovery Team received the prestigious 2015 Thayer Lindsley Award from the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada, recognizing Kamoa's distinction as the year's top global mineral discovery." Mr. Chen said Zijin Mining "is honoured to have the opportunity to invest in Ivanhoe Mines, which controls the world-class, high-grade Kamoa Copper Project, Platreef Platinum-Group-Metals Project and Kipushi Zinc-Copper Project, all three of which have great untapped potential. We believe these are among the most attractive undeveloped mineral deposits in the world. Robert Friedland and I have been friends for more than 10 years. As a geologist myself, I sincerely admire the achievements of his team in its significant discoveries in Africa. "Zijin will establish a close and strategic partnership with Ivanhoe through which we plan to closely cooperate in the development of Ivanhoe's mines. I am convinced that our partnership will turn our respective strengths into synergies, not only for the mutual benefit of both parties, but also to create significant value for both Zijin and Ivanhoe shareholders, as well as the societies in which we operate," Mr Chen added. Established in 1986, Zijin has acquired extensive interests across a broad range of commodities during the past 23 years. Zijin is one of the largest gold producers in China, the country's second largest primary copper producer and a major zinc producer. In addition to its portfolio of producing assets in China, Zijin also controls or has interests in existing mines in Australia, Russia, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and is participating in mine development projects in Canada, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru. The company's shares trade on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges. The Zijin private placement is scheduled to close on or about April 20, 2015, subject to receipt of the approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange, and receipt by Zijin of approvals from the Chinese government or its relevant authorized departments. The shares being purchased will be subject to a statutory hold period in Canada of four months plus one day from the closing of the private placement. Conditional on the closing of the private placement, Ivanhoe Mines has agreed to grant Zijin anti-dilution rights to enable Zijin to maintain its approximately 9.9% interest in Ivanhoe Mines in the event of any future equity financings. About Ivanhoe Mines Ivanhoe Mines, with offices in Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa is advancing and developing its three principal projects: The Kamoa copper discovery in a previously unknown extension of the Central African Copperbelt in the Democratic Republic of Congo's southern Katanga province. Members of the Ivanhoe Mines exploration team recently received the prestigious Thayer Lindsley Award from the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada for the Kamoa copper discovery, recognized as the year's top international mineral discovery. A multi-phased mine development on its 64%-owned Platreef discovery of platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold and rhodium in South Africa's Bushveld Complex. The South African beneficiaries of a broad-based, black economic empowerment structure have a 26% stake in the Platreef Project and the remaining 10% is owned by a Japanese consortium of ITOCHU Corporation; Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation; ITC Platinum Development Ltd., an ITOCHU affiliate; and Japan Gas Corporation. The historic, high-grade Kipushi zinc, copper and germanium mine, also on the Copperbelt in the D.R. Congo's Katanga province, which now is being drilled and upgraded by Ivanhoe following its acquisition of a majority interest in the mine in 2011. Kipushi was operated by previous owners between 1924 and 1993. About Zijin Mining Zijin is a large-scale mining group headquartered in Shanghang County, in China's Fujian Province. It is one of the largest gold producers, second largest mineral copper producer, and a significant zinc, tungsten and iron ore producer in China. Zijin trades on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges and has a market capitalization of more than US$10 billion. Information contacts IVANHOE MINES Investors Bill Trenaman +1.604.688.6630 Media North America: Bob Williamson +1.604.512.4856 South Africa: Jeremy Michaels +27.82.939.4812 Website: www.ivanhoemines.com ZIJIN MINING Investors Shaoyang Shen: +86.592.293.3620 Website: www.zjky.cn