JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines is planning to appoint an investment bank to advise the company’s board on strategic options after having received unsolicited interest in its projects in recent months.
“The mining industry has taken notice of our company. Our remarkable Kakula discovery on the Central African Copperbelt certainly is helping to generate attention. We have received a number of unsolicited inquiries from significant mining industry participants in Asia, Europe, Africa and elsewhere.
“In response, our board has taken the prudent decision to seek strategic advice,” executive chairperson Robert Friedland said on Monday.
The Kakula deposit is in the southern portion of Ivanhoe’s Kamoa project, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Recent drilling has shown intercepts of greater than 10% copper, at a 3% cutoff.
The company has also started investor and banking analyst tours of its projects, including the Kakula discovery.
Ivanhoe CEO Lars-Eric Johansson said it was important for analysts and investors to gain a first-hand understanding of the progress and potential of the company’s project offering and to see the scale of the Kakula discovery.
“Following this, we can obtain strategic advice and make informed decisions that benefit our shareholders and the other governmental, community and local stakeholders in our projects,” he added.