NEWS - Ivanhoe Mines Announces Appr

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Subject: NEWS - Ivanhoe Mines Announces Approval of Scheduled Expansion at S&K Copper Mine to Facilitate

Ivanhoe Mines Announces Approval of Scheduled Expansion at S&K Copper
Mine to Facilitate

  40% Increase in Designed Output
                                                                        
Updated 8:29 AM ET October 12, 1999

  SINGAPORE, Oct. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Robert M. Friedland, Chairman of
Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (Toronto: IVN), announced
  today that approval has been given for the planned expansion of the
S&K Copper Mine in Myanmar. Production capacity
  will be increased by approximately 40%, to an annual design rate of
35,000 tonnes (77.2 million pounds) of cathode.

  With the mine having achieved financial completion in August, the
board of Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper Company (MICCL)
  -- 50%-owned by Ivanhoe Mines -- has now approved the expansion.
Subject to the approval of MICCL's joint venture
  partners and the project lender, the budgeted cost of approximately
US$7 million is expected to be financed internally by
  MICCL through ongoing copper sales. The project is scheduled to be
completed by September 2000.

  The construction project will be managed by MICCL. Merit Consultants,
of Vancouver, Canada, has been selected to
  assist with the implementation of the project. The mine's increased
copper output will be achieved largely through a 40%
  increase in the size of the electrowinning plant. The electrowinning
process produces sheets of 99.999%-pure copper
  (cathodes) by applying an electric current to a solution rich in
copper leached from heaps of crushed ore.

  "The expansion of the S&K Mine is part of the natural evolution of the
Monywa project that we had built into our planning
  schedule from the outset in 1995 to achieve optimum efficiency from
the first stage of production," Mr. Friedland said.

  "While there are four distinct deposits at Monywa, our initial mining,
including this expansion, is focused just on the
  Sabetaung pit. Proceeding with the planned expansion at this time will
allow us to optimize the mine's existing
  infrastructure and achieve production significantly above the
commissioning target of 25,000 tonnes a year. As we had
  hoped, the SX-EW process has proven to be very cost effective and
ideally suited to the ore being mined at S&K."

  Mr. Friedland said that the development plan for Monywa incorporates
longer term provisions for future increases in
  production of an additional 125,000 tonnes (275 million pounds) of
cathode copper a year. "The timing and ultimate scale
  of the entire project has not yet been determined or limited."

  The S&K Mine is operated by MICCL, a 50/50 joint venture between
Ivanhoe Mines and Mining Enterprise No. 1, a
  state-owned company. S&K is currently producing copper at a rate of
more than 28,000 tonnes a year -- 12% higher than
  the mine's commissioning target. The average minegate cost of
production to date is approximately 27 cents (US) a
  pound.

  Ivanhoe Mines has 74.2 million shares outstanding and had a cash
balance of approximately US$51.4 million at
  September 30, 1999. The company's shares trade on the Toronto and
Australian stock exchanges under the symbol IVN.

  FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This news release contains certain
forward-looking statements. All statements,
  other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including,
without limitation, statements regarding future copper
  production and expansion plans of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (Ivanhoe) are
forward-looking statements that involve various risks
  and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will
prove to be accurate and actual results and
  future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Important factors that could cause actual
  results to differ materially from Ivanhoe's expectations are disclosed
under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in
  Ivanhoe's documents filed from time to time with the Toronto Stock
Exchange and other regulatory authorities.
  Forward-looking statements are based on the estimates and opinions of
management on the date the statements are
  made, and Ivanhoe does not undertake any obligation to update
forward-looking statements should conditions or
  management's estimates or opinions change. 

  Contact: Bill Trenaman, Investors, or Bob Williamson, Media, North
America, both of Ivanhoe Mines, 604-688-5755