Ivanhoe to form Falcon(TM) exploration joint venture with world's largest mining company on 28,000 square kilometres in Mongolia
17 Mai 2005 - 7:01PM
PR Newswire (US)
Ivanhoe to form Falcon(TM) exploration joint venture with world's
largest mining company on 28,000 square kilometres in Mongolia's
South Gobi region ULAANBAATAR, Mongolia, May 17
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ivanhoe Mines Deputy Chairman Edward
Flood announced today that the company has agreed to form a joint-
venture partnership with BHP Billiton to use BHP Billiton's
proprietary Falcon(TM) airborne gravity gradiometer system to
explore approximately 28,000 square kilometres of Ivanhoe's
non-core exploration ground in southern Mongolia. The new
Ivanhoe-BHP Billiton joint-venture, called the Falcon Gobi Project,
provides BHP Billiton the right to earn up to 50% of all minerals
found on the project, other than coal, by spending US$8 million in
exploration costs. The Falcon Gobi Project covers approximately 22%
of Ivanhoe's land holdings in this region. Ivanhoe's advanced
exploration and development-stage projects - Oyu Tolgoi,
Kharmagtai, Yellow Hills and Bronze Fox - are not included in the
Falcon Gobi Project. Under the terms of the agreement, and subject
to the execution of the definitive Option and Joint-Venture
agreements, BHP Billiton will use its proprietary Falcon system and
solely fund a major geophysical survey of a minimum of 30,000 line
kilometres over the whole or selected parts of the Falcon Gobi
Project. BHP Billiton expects to complete its Falcon survey before
December 31, 2006. BHP Billiton will fund all aspects of the
survey; inclusive of mobilization, as well as processing and
interpretation, using the most advanced and proprietary techniques.
Following BHP Billiton's vesting in the project, a 50/50 joint
venture will be established between BHP Billiton and Ivanhoe, and
the parties will contribute all further exploration and development
costs on a pro-rata basis. "This joint venture provides Ivanhoe
with access to BHP Billiton's state- of-the art Falcon airborne
technology to quickly evaluate a significant portion of our
exploration ground in the South Gobi that is not amenable to
conventional exploration techniques," said Mr. Flood. Falcon is an
airborne gravity gradiometer that measures minute changes in the
earth's gravity. This technology gives BHP Billiton a competitive
advantage in the search for mineral and hydrocarbon deposits and
has helped in the resource evaluation of some major operations,
such as the Ekati Diamond Mine in Northwest Territories, Canada,
and the Cannington Silver and Lead Mine in Queensland, Australia.
This competitive advantage is backed by BHP Billiton's exclusivity
on the technology coupled with its unique value-added processing
and interpretation capabilities. Ivanhoe has a 100% interest in the
Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia and owns or controls
exploration rights covering approximately 130,000 square kilometres
in central and southern Mongolia, where additional copper-gold and
coal discoveries have been made. Ivanhoe produces LME grade A
copper from its Monywa joint venture in Myanmar. Ivanhoe shares are
listed on the Toronto and New York stock exchanges under the symbol
IVN. Information contacts in North America:
-------------------------------------- Investors: Bill Trenaman:
(604) 688-5755; Media: Bob Williamson: (604) 688-5755
Forward-Looking Statements: Statements in this release that are
forward- looking statements are subject to various risks and
uncertainties concerning the specific factors disclosed under the
heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in the corporation's periodic
filings with Canadian and US securities regulators. When used in
this document, the words such as "could," "plan," "estimate,"
"expect," "intend," "may," "potential," "should," and similar
expressions, are forward-looking statements. The risk factors that
could cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking
statements include, but are not restricted to, operational risk,
environmental risk, financial risk, geo-political risk, commodity
risk, currency risk and other statements that are not historical
facts as disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere
in the corporation's periodic filings with securities regulators in
Canada and the United States. DATASOURCE: Ivanhoe Mines Ltd.
CONTACT: Information contacts in North America: Investors: Bill
Trenaman: (604) 688-5755; Media: Bob Williamson: (604) 688-5755; To
request a free copy of this organization's annual report, please go
to http://www.newswire.ca/ and click on reports@cnw.
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