Rio Tinto (RIO) stock price rises as it writes off $2.3bn debt
By Jenny McCall
10:34, 13 December 2021
Anglo-Australian multinational company, Rio Tinto Group, has reportedly cancelled Mongolia’s $2.3bn debt, according to news sources today.
Rio Tinto, which is a multinational and the world’s second-largest metals and mining corporation behind BHP, wrote a letter to Mongolia’s Prime Minister Oyun-Erdene Luvsannamsrai, outlining its plans to write off the outstanding debt for its share in the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project, which is located in the South Gobi Desert in Mongolia.
Share price rise
Rio Tinto’s stock price was up this morning by 1.18%, which may have been down to this recent announcement. The company produces iron ore, copper, diamonds, gold and uranium.
Oyun-Erdene said his office received a letter from Rio Tinto saying it would write off the debt, conduct an independent audit into how the project’s underground expansion would be financed and improve governance.
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Benefits to Mongolia
“We have proposed that the benefits of Oyu Tolgoi be in the interests of the Mongolian people,” Oyun-Erdene announced during a briefing, which was reported by Reuters.
He added that the company has agreed to finish the work on the expanded portion of the mine by 2023.
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