Rio Tinto Agrees to $500 Million Funding Plan for Mongolian Copper Mine
September 10 2020 - 9:07AM
Dow Jones News
By Joe Hoppe
Rio Tinto PLC said Thursday that it and Turquoise Hill Resources
Ltd. have entered a memorandum of understanding to provide funding
for its Mongolian copper project, and will seek up to $500
million.
The mining giant said the memorandum will progress the
completion of the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Project in Mongolia, set
to be one of the largest copper mines in the world. It will
re-profile principal debt repayments with lenders under existing
project finance arrangements into ones that better match with the
revised mine plans, and raise up to $500 million in additional
lending from certain international financiers, it said.
Turquoise Hill will continue to explore other options for
additional funding, which Rio will consider, the company said.
However, Rio said it doesn't presently support or consent to any
additional debt or other sources of funding, and both parties
acknowledge any balance of funding will need to be met through a
Turquoise Hill equity offering.
"We will continue working with Turquoise Hill and the government
of Mongolia to progress the underground project, which has the
potential to unlock the most valuable part of the mine for the
benefit of all stakeholders," Rio Tinto Chief Executive of Copper
and Diamonds Arnaud Soirat said.
Shares at 1231 GMT were down 20 pence, or 0.4%, at 4770
pence.
Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 10, 2020 08:52 ET (12:52 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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