VANCOUVER -- The growing demand to reduce greenhouse gases including the use of gasoline-electric hybrid cars will help drive copper demand, Ivanhoe Mines [TSX:IVN; NYSE:IVN] chairman Robert Friedland told a mining conference Monday.
Friedland called copper a ''green'' metal and pointed to that hybrid cars use twice the amount of copper compared with regular cars.
''Copper is critical if you are going to do anything over the concerns of the climate,'' Friedland told the Asia Pacific Forum on Mining and Minerals in Vancouver.
Toyota has set a target of selling a million hybrid cars a year as soon as possible after 2010, while New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants every one of the 13,000 yellow cabs in that city to be a hybrid by 2012.
''That means they will sell more hybrid cars than they sold in the last four years,'' Friedland said of Toyota.
Friedland, the man behind a huge nickel find at Voisey's Bay, Labrador, that was sold to Inco Ltd. [TSX:N; NYSE:RIO], is now executive chairman of Ivanhoe, the company currently developing the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project in Mongolia.
He said copper will also be needed in other clean power projects.
''No matter what alternative you select be it hydro or nuclear or if you want to figure out a clean way to burn coal, you're going to need copper.'' Friedland said.
Friedland also said the heavy oilsands projects will require metals such as copper and nickel as well.
''In order to unleash this technology in a way that is environmentally acceptable, in a way that can bring America to secure North America energy resources, we're going to need metals,'' Friedland said.
Also at the mining forum, Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn announced the creation a new major projects management office that will provide project management for resources projects going through the regulatory system.
Ottawa will spend C$150 million over five years to establish the office and increase the scientific and technical capacity of the key regulatory departments involved in the approval of new mining projects.
''Its tracking system will also let you - stakeholders and the public - track the progression of individual projects,'' Lunn said.
''When necessary, the office will intervene to address blockages in the system.''
Friedland said it was important for the Canadian government to support the mining industry for the country to remain a leader in the field.
Ivanhoe Mines, which reports in U.S. dollars, lost $74.2 million or 20 cents per share in the April-June period compared to a loss of $40.3 million or 12 cents per share in the same period last year and it increased spending on the project.
In April, Ivanhoe and its partner on the project, Rio Tinto, reached an agreement in principle with the Mongolian government for the project, but it still awaits parliamentary approval in Mongolia.
Friedland said Mongolian parliamentarians were currently visiting several Rio Tinto mines.
''Once the parliament ratifies this agreement, we will be in full-on construction mode,'' he said.
Ivanhoe said it has warned authorities in Mongolia about ''potential adverse impacts on the cost and timing for the project that would result from any further delays in the parliamentary approval process.''
© The Canadian Press 2007
