(Bloomberg) -- Billionaire Robert Friedland is joining efforts to help America reduce its dependence on China for supplies of critical minerals like copper that are used in everything from batteries to electric cars.

Ivanhoe Electric Inc. is seeking a listing on the NYSE American and Toronto stock exchanges under the ticker symbol IE, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday. The company has interests in mines producing copper, gold and silver and it owns a battery-based energy storage business. Friedland is its chief executive officer.

The exploration and development company has a focus on developing mines from mineral deposits principally located in the United States in order to support American supply chain independence and to deliver the critical metals necessary for electrification of the economy, according to the prospectus. “We believe the United States is significantly underexplored and has the potential to yield major new discoveries of these metals,” it said.

The company’s two main projects are the Santa Cruz Copper Project in Arizona and the Tintic Copper-Gold Project in Utah.

The underwriters of Ivanhoe Electric’s IPO are BMO Capital Markets and Jefferies.

Friedland, founder and executive co-chairman of Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., made his fortune from a Canadian nickel project and was behind a massive copper-gold discovery in Mongolia that’s now operated by Rio Tinto Group.

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