Ivanhoe Mines says 23 pct construction complete at Oyu Tolgoi

* Arbitration proceeding with Rio Tinto expected to resume this month

* Says arbitration not to adversely affect construction at Oyu Tolgoi

* Shares rise 3 pct in Toronto, New York (Adds details, share movement)

June 9 (Reuters) - Ivanhoe Mines Ltd said nearly one-fourth of the construction of its flagship Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia was completed by May and it continued to be ahead of schedule, sending its shares up 3 percent in Toronto and New York.

Ivanhoe said arbitration proceedings with project partner Rio Tinto regarding Ivanhoe's shareholders' rights plan is expected to resume later this month, following the expiry of a mutually-agreed six-month suspension.

The arbitration will not adversely affect construction at Oyu Tolgoi, said Ivanhoe Chief Executive Robert Friedland.

Last year, Rio launched arbitration proceedings to resolve a dispute over a shareholder rights plan adopted by Ivanhoe. Rio alleged that the plan was in breach of its contractual rights. [ID:nSGE66B0JD]

Ivanhoe owns 66 percent of the Oyu Tolgoi project, with the government of Mongolia owning the rest.

Rio Tinto currently owns a 42.1 percent stake in Ivanhoe and can gradually raise this stake up to 49 percent.

On Thursday, Ivanhoe said commissioning of the concentrator's first production line was expected to begin in the second quarter of 2012.

Full-scale construction at the copper-gold-silver mining complex is continuing toward a projected peak level of activity expected to be reached in the third quarter, the company said in a statement.

The project has set an objective of delivering the first ore from the mine to a mill circuit test in the concentrator within 12 months -- in June 2012.

The mine is one of the world's biggest untapped copper-gold deposits.

Ivanhoe said it is on track to start commercial production at the project in the first half of 2013.

Shares of Ivanhoe Mines were up 47 Canadian cents at C$21.94 on Thursday morning on the Toronto Stock Exchange. They were up at $22.54 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)

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