Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. remains confident power from China for its massive Oyutolgoi copper and gold mine in neighboring Mongolia will be delivered on schedule, the company”s chief executive said Thursday.

The mine needs a power supply by the third quarter of 2012 in order to start commercial production of copper concentrate by its 2013 target, and is counting on power being delivered under an agreement between China and Mongolia.

“There is only a very, very small probability of a delay,” Robert Friedland, CEO and founder of the Canadian company, told an industry luncheon in Melbourne. “The reason the electricity will be developed on time is that the Chinese are extremely anxious to buy our copper.”