Ivanhoe Mines taking 'hard look' at US projects

[TORONTO] Canadian exploration company Ivanhoe Mines is taking a "hard look" at projects in the United States amid a rush for green metals, Executive Co-Chairman Robert Friedland said on Monday.

US President-elect Joe Biden has indicated support boosting domestic production of metals used to make electric vehicles, solar panels and other products crucial to his climate plan.

"We've been taking a hard look at projects in those states in the United States where we think we can get a social license to mine," Mr Friedland said in a pre-recorded address at a virtual conference hosted by the Canada-based Association of Mineral Exploration. He did not name specific projects or states.

Ivanhoe owns 39.6 per cent of the Kamoa-Kakula project in Congo's copper belt as well as a 64 per cent interest in the Platreef palladium, platinum, nickel, copper, rhodium and gold project in South Africa through its subsidiary Ivanplats.

The US remains under-explored because previous administrations have considered mining a "toxic" industry, Mr Friedland said.

"But now even Joe Biden has said he will support the mining of copper in the United States because they know they need it," he said.

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Last week, US President Donald Trump's outgoing administration approved a land swap that would clear the way for a Rio Tinto Ltd copper mine in Arizona.

The Resolution copper mine would boost domestic production of the red metal but is opposed by environmentalists who fear the mine could pollute local water supplies and Native Americans who consider the land home to religious deities.

Last year, the US government denied a key permit for the Pebble copper-gold mine in Alaska, a decision the proponent has said it will challenge.

REUTERS