Rio ups stake in Ivanhoe Mines

30th Jun 2010 07:20

Rio Tinto said it is exercising all of its Series A warrants which will increase the mining giant's ownership of Ivanhoe Mines shares by 7.3% to 29.6% and provide sufficient funds to Ivanhoe to continue the development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold complex as scheduled. The Series A warrants entitle Rio Tinto to acquire more than 46m shares at a subscription price of $8.54 each, for total consideration of approximately $393m. Andrew Harding, chief executive, Copper, Rio Tinto said "Exercising the warrants early ensures Ivanhoe has sufficient funds to meet the current Oyu Tolgoi development schedule.""Our further investment in Ivanhoe Mines underlines our confidence in the quality of the world class Oyu Tolgoi deposit and its priority in our project portfolio."Rio and Ivanhoe are development partners for the Oyu Tolgoi project. Production is expected to commence in 2013, with a five year ramp up to full production.