LEGEND

Founder & Chairman , Ivanhoe Capital

Inducted into the prestigious Canadian Mining Hall of Fame in 2016 , Friedland was honoured as “ a dynamic , transformative force in the Canadian and international mining industries ” and “ one of the most recognised mining personalities and achievers in the world ”.

Referred to as “ the undisputed king of junior development ”, Friedland sowed the seeds for his current venture , Ivanhoe Mines , in 1993 . The company is developing three worldscale mining projects ( resourcing platinum , palladium , nickel , copper and gold ) in South Africa and the DRC following strategic investment in excess of $ 1bn .

Friedland ’ s original Ivanhoe Mines ( acquired by Rio Tinto in 2012 and renamed Turquoise Hill Resources ) was responsible for the discovery and development of the epic copper and gold deposits in the South Gobi region , resulting in the construction of the Oyu Tolgoi mining complex .

Friedland , among other roles , is also Chair and co-founder of disruptive controlled-energy tech company

Born August

18th 1950

Friedland ’ s ventures have raised more than

$ 25bn since

1993

Personal net worth :

$ 1.05bn

I-Pulse , CEO of its subsidiary High Power Exploration , holds a controlling interest in VRB Energy and his film production company Ivanhoe Pictures was behind the highest-grossing romantic comedy of the past decade , Crazy Rich Asians . Is there anything he can ’ t do ?

Mining Global caught up with the charismatic billionaire at Mines and Money London back in 2019 . Shooting from the hip during a fascinating keynote speech - holding forth on everything from the China-US trade war to global warming - the serial entrepreneur predicted the rise of electric vehicles ( EVs ) would be a huge opportunity for the mining industry and investors : “ Copper demand is going to be psychedelic !”

Heralding the “ revenge of the miners ” Friedland ’ s no-nonsense appraisal of the industry today highlights the huge opportunity for it to make a positive contribution to the fight against air pollution and the quest for net-zero emissions with the growth of solar and wind turbine energy solutions .

“ Human beings wanting everything , all of the time , and moving to cities will drive that growth in demand ,” says Friedland . “ Copper is rare and hard to find , but without it we don ’ t have a modern world . Lithium-ion batteries are made out of copper . So , when we start moving fully to electric vehicles we ’ re going to need a telescope to actually see the copper price ! The big giga factories are coming . The industrial revolution starts in 2023 and it ’ s set to build for the rest of the decade .” You heard it here …

18 May 2021