Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE:IVN): Miner of the Future?

Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE:IVN) may have positioned themselves as one of the top mining companies of the future, as their stake in the copper-gold mining project Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, ensures them a place among the top mining companies at minimum, and potential to be among the largest.

The extraordinary production numbers projected by the company through 2040, are an average of 540,000 tons of copper and 670,000 ounces of gold, starting in 2013, through the estimated 27-year life of the mine.

With proven reserves, it's hopeful the cost of financing the operation will kept to a minimum through the years, and that Ivanhoe retains solid leadership in the company.

Executive chairman Robert Friedland has said in the past that the mine could rank among the top several in the world, including legendary mines Escondida and Grasberg.

Those looking for a long-term play in the mining sector probably won't get a better company than Ivanhoe, as there's simply no known mine out there with the reserves in copper and gold for the period of time mentioned, taking into account other large mines already being operational and having resources extracted from them.

Ivanhoe is a company that must be closely watched, as it's sure to explode upwardly in price as production gets closer to launch.