Global miner Rio Tinto Ltd’s
(ASX:RIO) chairman Jan du Plessis, has written to shareholders expressing the miner’s concern’s over the impact the proposed Resource Super Profits Tax will have on existing projects.
Mr du Plessis says Rio is currently reviewing all of its operations in Australia under the worst-case tax scenario to assess the impact the proposed mining profits tax will have on future growth plans.
Rio Tinto, he says, like the rest of the mining industry, has grave concerns about the fundamentals of the new tax, saying it has been developed in a vacuum and is divorced from the day-to-day realities of business.
Mr du Plessis says Rio has consistently expressed its support of tax reform but says the Government’s proposal has been made without sufficient consultation with the miners and as it stands will penalise efficiency, discourage competitiveness, curtail investment and limit jobs growth.
Mr du Plessis told shareholders that the mining industry invests billions of dollars a year in new projects which takes years, even decades to pay back.
Companies like Rio Tinto, he says, are naturally only prepared to make such major long term commitments in stable legal, tax and regulatory environments.
Rio Tinto earned profit of $5.4 billion for calendar 2009.
