Rio Tinto investors ‘sold down the river’
US regulator says important information was withheld during a fundraising for a coal mine in Mozambique
If there was ever a case of "caveat emptor", this is it: Rio Tinto’s top executives of four years ago are now being pursued for fraud over the disastrous acquisition of Riversdale Mining’s Mozambican coal assets in 2011. Tom Albanese, CEO of Vedanta Resources until August, and Guy Elliott, until recently a nonexecutive director at Shell Global and deputy chairman of SABMiller, are facing huge personal claims and possible disbarment from public office after a US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) probe into their roles at Rio Tinto. Rio bought Riversdale — whose two main assets were stakes in the Zululand Anthracite Colliery in SA and the Benga coal project in Tete province, Mozambique — for US$3.9bn. Benga, which had a high proportion of coking coal, used in steelmaking, was looking extremely attractive at a time when prices were soaring. The prices, and the size of the resource, appeared to justify embarking on a remote greenfields project in the middle of an undeveloped area o...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.