Rio Tinto sells stake in Bengalla coal joint venture

30th Sep 2015 07:02

(ShareCast News) - Rio Tinto has sold its 40% stake in the Bengalla coal joint venture in Australia for $606m (£400m), the company announced on Wednesday.Its stake in the mine, which produced 8.6m tonnes of coal in 2014, has been sold to New Hope Corporation Limited.Bengalla is the smallest of three coal mines in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales, Australia in which Rio Tinto holds an interest.The FTSE 100 listed company has announced or completed $4.5bn (£3bn) of divestments since January 2013.Rio Tinto Copper & Coal chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques said the sale will deliver value for shareholders."It demonstrates our commitment to further strengthening our balance sheet, maintaining a disciplined approach to allocating capital across the Group and delivering strong returns for shareholders through the cycle."Bengalla mine is a robust, well-managed business with a productive workforce and we believe it will have a positive future under the new owner with different capital allocation priorities."Rio Tinto and Mitsubishi Development have simplified the ownership structure of its joint venture Coal & Allied to help enable the transaction.