Friedland cuts Turquoise stake and loses board representation

Mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland has sold part of his stake in Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd, the company he founded to develop the giant Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia.

The sell-down to less than 10% will mean Friedland will lose board representation at Turquoise, which has a 66% stake in Oyu Tolgoi.

Friedland was chief executive of Turquoise, formerly Ivanhoe Mines Ltd, until April last year when Rio Tinto took control.

As part of the deal, Friedland had the right to nominate two directors, provided his holding in the company remained higher than 10%.

Turquoise said Friedland’s stake fell below that threshold in late April following “private sale transactions” and his two representatives, Livia Mahler and Peter Meredith would not stand for re-election at the upcoming annual general meeting on May 10.

Oyu Tolgoi, which has cost US$6.6 billion to develop, is expected to start commercial production in June this year.

Meanwhile, Dan Larsen, a Rio nominee to Turquoise’s board has stepped down and will be replaced by Virginia Flood, Rio vice president in Canada.