Ivanhoe sold its interest in Syerston in 2014 to Australia-based...

Ivanhoe sold its interest in Syerston in 2014 to Australia-based Clean TeQ Holdings (US-OTC: CTEQF; ASX: CLQ), in order to focus on its three mine development projects in Africa. Ivanhoe received A$1 million worth of shares in Clean TeQ, an A$3 million promissory note, and retains a 2.5% net smelter return royalty on the project. Friedland joined Clean TeQ’s board as co-chairman in 2016, and says management may pursue a Canadian listing.

Earlier this year, Clean TeQ formed a strategic partnership with Pengxin Mining to fast-track Syerston. Pengxin Mining acquired a 16.2% stake in Clean TeQ and is part of the Pengxin group, a private Chinese conglomerate based in Shanghai with interests in mining, real estate, construction, water-treatment, technology and dairy farms. (Pengxin also owns and operates the Shituru copper mine in Katanga province in the DRC.)

Pengxin has agreed to help Clean TeQ procure Chinese project financiers to participate in financing the project for a proportion of its capital costs. Clean TeQ can also utilize Pengxin’s business network to market off-take agreements and even water treatment. (The Pengxin group is the largest shareholder in one of China’s largest publicly traded water treatment companies.)

Perhaps one of Friedland’s biggest passions these days, however, is a privately held technology company called I-Pulse that he has worked on for close to 15 years with his partner and mentor, Laurent Frescaline, an engineer and scientist focused on plasma physics.