https://www.miningweekly.com

Rio Tinto considers float of Canadian iron-ore business

10th August 2018

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

LONDON – Rio Tinto, the world's second largest listed mining company, is exploring a public listing of its Iron Ore Company of Canada business, banking and industry sources said, as it focuses on boosting revenue from its flagship Australian assets.

Iron-ore, which accounts for most of Rio's profit and is used in making steel, has provided healthy margins for years but the outlook is uncertain as major buyer China is expected increasingly to rely on recycling rather than importing raw material.

Following a commodity price crash in 2015, Rio put a string of assets on the block, mostly in coal, to decrease its debt load. In iron ore, its push to refocus has meant concentrating on Australia's Pilbara region, where it has lower costs and higher grades.

IOC, 59%-owned by the Anglo-Australian miner, 26% by Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation and 15% by Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Company, is one of Canada's largest producers of iron-ore. It had revenues of $1.9-billion in 2017.

Rio had tried to sell its stake in IOC in 2012 as it already deemed it a non-core asset but it withdrew the process, saying the sale was not essential.

One banking source said that offers from private equity funds and rival miners had not met Rio's target of between $3.5-billion and $4-billion back then.

Rio was now considering an IPO of its stake on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) as part of its ongoing work to hold only its best assets, but the process was at an early stage and it had not yet hired a financial adviser, the banking source added.

Rio Tinto and Mitsubishi declined to comment. Labrador Iron Ore Royalty Company was not immediately available to comment.

Rio Tinto's revenues are more dependent on iron ore than its rivals. In 2017, iron-ore made up more than 60% of Rio's earnings.

The Pilbara region of Western Australia produces high-quality iron-ore that sells at a premium and Rio invested heavily in the region's assets, installing driverless trains and maximising productivity.

It is also poised to expand there, having approved $146 million of funding to undertake initial work at the Koodaideri iron ore project, ahead of a final investment decision expected by the end of the year.

IOC produces iron-ore pellets and concentrate from operations in Newfoundland and Labrador, and runs port facilities in Sept-Iles, Quebec, as well as a 418-kilometre railway that links the mine to the port.

A labour dispute earlier this year that resulted in a two-month suspension of operations was part of the reason for Rio reducing its underlying core profit by $137 million compared with the 2017 first half, Rio Tinto said when it reported half-year results last week.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

Showroom

John Thompson
John Thompson

John Thompson, the leader in energy and environmental solutions through value engineering and innovation, provides the following: design, engineer,...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Yale Lifting Solutions
Yale Lifting Solutions

Yale Lifting Solutions is a leading supplier of lifting and material handling equipment in Southern Africa. Yale offers a wide range of quality...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.148 0.183s - 107pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now