Global miner Rio Tinto Limited
(ASX:RIO) says it has acquired shares under Ivanhoe Mines Limited’s (IVN:TSX, NYSE:IVN, NASDAQ:IVAN) rights offering representing about 51 per cent of shares.
Rio was under contractual obligations to Ivanhoe to acquire additional shares in order to provide additional funding for the timely development of Ivanhoe’s Oyu-Tolgoi copper-gold mine in Mongolia.
Both Rio and Ivanhoe are joint venture partners in the project.
The commercial production of copper concentrate is expected in the first half of 2013.
Rio Tinto booked a net profit of $6.7 billion the 2011 financial year.
