BHP, Rio Tinto Australia, Xstrata Coal Chiefs Met Government - Source

30th Jun 2010 23:40

MELBOURNE (Dow Jones)--BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) Chief Executive Marius Kloppers and senior executives from Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) and Xstrata PLC (XTA.LN) will begin a second day of negotiations with the Australian government Thursday over its planned new mining tax, a person familiar with the situation said. Kloppers, Rio Tinto Managing Director Australia David Peever and Xstrata Coal Chief Executive Peter Freyberg met with Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson in Canberra Wednesday to begin the new phase of negotiations on the tax initiated by new prime minister Julia Gillard, the person said. A previous round of consultation featuring the same three executives under former prime minister Kevin Rudd had ended in stalemate, with the miners issuing a terse statement on June 16 stating there was no acknowledgement from the government that their key areas of concern would be addressed. There is a more constructive tone to talks this time around, the person said, but added that the two sides may struggle to reach an agreement by the end of the week given the complexities of the issues involved and the economic modeling they would be sharing. - By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires: 613-9292-2094; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 30, 2010 18:40 ET (22:40 GMT)