JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – TSX-listed Ivanplats has changed its name to Ivanhoe Mines, effective immediately.

The original Ivanhoe Mines was established in 1999 and took its name from the private venture capital and project finance firm Ivanhoe Capital Corporation, which was formed by Ivanplats chairperson Robert Friedland.

In terms of a 2010 agreement with Ivanhoe Mines and Rio Tinto, Ivanhoe Capital retained the right to the Ivanhoe name and required that Rio Tinto relinquish the name after acquiring control of Ivanhoe Mines, which owns a majority stake in the Oyu Tolgoi mine, in Mongolia, in January 2012.

Shareholders of the former Ivanhoe Mines agreed that the company’s name be changed to Turquoise Hill Resources as from August to align the company’s name with its flagship Oyu Tolgoi project.

Friedland noted in a statement to shareholders on Wednesday that this was the right time for Ivanplats to make the transition to a corporate identity that more broadly reflected the fact that it has grown and evolved to become more than just a platinum-group metals focused company.

“After 19 years of company-building experience in Africa, this is an appropriate time for Ivanplats to assume the Ivanhoe Mines mantle as we continue the fulfillment both of the company's potential and its commitments to all of its stakeholders – and our pursuit of opportunities across new horizons,” he commented.

CEO Lars-Eric Johansson added that the Ivanplats name will be retained for use in the ongoing development of the company's Platreef discovery of platinum-group elements, nickel, copper, gold and rhodium in South Africa.

The company is also developing the Kamoa copper discovery and the Kipushi zinc-copper-germanium-precious metals mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The renamed Ivanhoe Mines will start trading on the TSX under the IVN trading symbol on September 3.