CALGARY - High-profile mining entrepreneur Robert Friedland signalled Thursday his company, Ivanhoe Energy Inc. of Vancouver, intends to build an estimated $1.8-billion integrated oilsands project near Fort McMurray, Alta.

The project, to be centred on one of three oilsands leases purchased for $105 million from Talisman Gold Energy Inc. of Calgary, would give Ivanhoe its first chance to apply a proprietary heavy-oil upgrading technology at a major commercial project.

"We now have achieved our initial objective," said Friedland, whose company discovered the massive nickel deposit at Voisey's Bay in Newfoundland, and whose Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. is trying to develop a $3-billion gold and cooper mine in Mongolia with partner Rio Tinto PLC.

"We are anchoring the rollout of our HTL (heavy-to-light) heavy-oil upgrading process with a first-class, high-quality resource asset in the centre of the Athabasca oilsands region.

"We will now proceed full speed ahead with preparations for an integrated HTL heavy oil project on Lease 10, while at the same time progressing discussions relating to additional heavy-oil opportunities in Canada and internationally."

Friedland, a billionaire financier, grabbed the company's reins at its annual general meeting Thursday morning in Vancouver, winning shareholder approval for his new title as executive chairman and CEO.

The meeting also approved the creation of two new subsidiaries to implement HTL heavy-oil projects, one focussed on Latin America and the other on the Middle East and North Africa. Ivanhoe also has a Chinese subsidiary called Sunwing Energy.

Ivanhoe shares closed at $2.61, down seven cents on six-month high volume of 2.8 million on the Toronto stock market. Talisman Gold slipped 70 cents to $22.71.

Ian Barnett, executive vice-president of corporate development, said Ivanhoe's upgrading technology was demonstrated last year at a 1,000 bpd facility at Bakersfield, Calif.