Mongolia will be the next powerhouse
in the global copper mining industry, surpassing even Chile in the scale and
efficiency of projects, according to Robert M. Friedland, founder and executive
chairman of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. Friedland, whose company has been developing the
Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia for more than a decade, said that
rapidly declining ore grades at many of the world”s existing copper mines make
new projects in Mongolia particularly attractive.