JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA--(Marketwired - July 21, 2014) - The Board of Directors of Ivanhoe Mines (TSX:IVN) announces, with regret, that it has been advised today of the passing of Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, a valued member of the company's board since February 2012.
"We are deeply saddened to hear of the loss of Dr. Lukman, who was respected as one of Africa's most accomplished, and internationally recognized and honoured, business leaders," said Ivanhoe's Executive Chairman and founder Robert Friedland.
"Dr. Lukman joined the Ivanhoe Board of Directors as we were entering the most ambitious phase of our development as an Africa-focused mineral resource company and preparing for our initial public offering. Drawing on his enormous experience and insights, his contributions through the board and its committees in helping to guide Ivanhoe's growth have been significant. We are privileged to have known and worked with him and, on behalf of everybody at Ivanhoe, I extend our sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues."
Dr. Lukman was a non-executive of International Mining and Infrastructure Corporation Plc., an investment company concentrated on Africa's resource sector. During his extensive career he served as Secretary General of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and was formerly Nigeria's Minister of Foreign Affairs and also Minister of Mines, Power and Steel. He was made a Knight of the British Empire in 1989 and an Officer of the Legion d'Honneur of France in 1990.
About Ivanhoe Mines
Ivanhoe Mines, with offices in Canada, the United Kingdom and South Africa, is developing its three principal projects:
- The Kamoa copper discovery in a previously unknown extension of the Central African Copperbelt in the DRC's Katanga Province.
- The Platreef discovery of platinum, palladium, nickel, copper, gold and rhodium on the Northern Limb of the Bushveld Complex in South Africa.
- The historic, high-grade Kipushi zinc-copper mine, also on the Copperbelt in the DRC, which now is being drilled and upgraded following an 18-year care-and-maintenance program that ended when Ivanhoe acquired its majority interest in the mine in 2011.
Ivanhoe is evaluating other opportunities as part of its objective to become a broadly based, international mining company.
