Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd
(ASX:RIO) says it has received approval from the Brazilian National Defence Council on the sale of its Corumba iron ore mine in Brazil to Brazilian miner Vale S.A.
The transaction worth US$750 million, is expected to close shortly.
In January Rio announced that it had reached an agreement with Vale to sell its Corumba iron ore mine and associated river logistics operations in Paraguay, the Potasio Rio Colorado potash project in Argentina and the Regina exploration assets in Canada for US$1.6 billion.
Over the last 18 months, Rio has announced US$6.6 billion in asset sales in an effort to reduce its debt.
Rio says in addition to this it has also received a binding offer from Amcor for US$2.025 billion for Alcan Packaging global pharmaceuticals, global tobacco, food Europe and food Asia divisions.
Rio Tinto’s profits took a big tumble in 2008 recording just half of its result in 2007.
