Rio Tinto's long-term future is better served if China's Chinalco can double its stake in the Anglo-Australian mining giant to 18 percent, a senior company executive said Thursday.
"As a value proposition, this is absolutely favourable," Rio Tinto's chief financial officer, Guy Elliot, said at a mining conference in Singapore.
A deal with Chinalco would give Rio Tinto better understanding of the huge Chinese market and even access to exploration rights in the country, he was quoted as saying by Dow Jones Newswires.
State-owned Chinalco wants to invest 19.5 US billion dollars in Rio Tinto but Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board wants to review the deal amid growing concerns over foreign ownership in its key mining sector.
The Australian government last week extended its review of the proposed tie-up by 90 days to allow further scrutiny.
Australian politicians have voiced concerns about the Chinalco deal, which would mark China's largest ever foreign investment.
At a time of global economic slowdown, the transaction is seen as giving debt-laden Rio Tinto a much-needed capital boost as the mining giant struggles to repay its massive 38-billion dollar debt.
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