Commodity Online
LONDON: Rio Tinto, the leading global mining group, has signed an agreement to sell the Kintyre uranium project located in Western Australia to a joint venture consortium comprising subsidiaries of Cameco Corporation and Mitsubishi Development Pty Ltd for US$495 million.

Guy Elliott, chief financial officer of Rio Tinto, said, “This sale brings us closer to achieving our asset sales target of US$10 billion in 2008, and is the third under a planned programme to divest at least US$15 billion of assets in total.

“It illustrates our ability to obtain real value for our assets and follows the sales earlier this year of the Greens Creek mine in Alaska for US$750 million and our interest in the Cortez operation in Nevada for US$1.695 billion.

“These transactions bring transparency to the value inherent in Rio Tinto's portfolio of high quality assets."

The transaction is expected to close in August 2008, subject to the satisfaction of customary conditions and certain agreements with the Martu People, the traditional owners. There is no financing condition.

In November 2007, Rio Tinto announced the results of its overall strategic review of the Group’s asset portfolio following its acquisition of Alcan. Options are being explored to divest Rio Tinto Energy America (coal), Rio Tinto Minerals talc and borates businesses, Rio Tinto Alcan Packaging, Rio Tinto Alcan Engineered Products, Rio Tinto’s interest in the Northparkes copper mine in Australia and Rio Tinto’s Sweetwater uranium assets in the USA.

Kintyre is located in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia, approximately 270km north-east of Newman and 90km south of Telfer, on the south-west margin of the Great Sandy Desert. The Kintyre tenements comprise four granted Mining Leases, four Mining Lease Applications, a Miscellaneous Licence and 12 Prospecting Licences, which together cover a total area of approximately 52 km2.

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