Friedland says will participate in Turquoise Hill rights issue
LONDON, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland said on Wednesday he would "fully" participate in a rights offering next month by Turquoise Hill, owner of the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper gold mine, which aims to raise up to $2.4 billion.
Turquoise Hill, majority owned by global miner Rio Tinto , said last month it planned a January rights issue, citing delays at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia that have stopped it from financing the mine's next phase.
"I have arranged my affairs to participate fully," Friedland said on the sidelines of a London mining conference.
Friedland made his name in 1996 by selling a then-undeveloped Canadian nickel-copper project called Voisey's Bay for C$4.3 billion ($4.2 billion).
He solidified his status within the mining industry with Ivanhoe, a vehicle he used to promote and build the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine, one of the world's largest.
Last year, mining giant Rio took majority control of Ivanhoe, and renamed it Turquoise Hill Resources.
Friedland resigned as chief executive of Turquoise Hill last year and has since shifted his focus to a new, Africa-centred venture, also Ivanhoe Mines.
He owns 9.8 percent of Turquoise Hill shares, according to Thomson Reuters data.
