friedland was chief executive officer of canada-based ivanhoe mines ltd. (ivn: tsx, nyse & nasdaq), which he founded in 1994 and led to a successful initial public offering on the toronto stock exchange in 1996. he served as chairman, and later as executive chairman, until 2011. exploration by ivanhoe mines since 2000 has discovered a chain of copper, gold and silver deposits at oyu tolgoi (turquoise hill) in mongolia’s south gobi region. the first phase of what is independently projected to be one of the world’s largest porphyry copper and gold mines is under construction at oyu tolgoi and is expected to begin commercial production in 2013. ivanhoe mines has discovered copper deposits in the democratic republic of congo (drc).