13th Mar 2008 16:11
Rio Tinto PLC13 March 2008 Rio Tinto Alcan and South African Government in discussions on timing of Coegasmelter project 13 March 2008 Rio Tinto Alcan today announced that it is in discussions with the South Africangovernment regarding the timing of the Coega smelter project near PortElizabeth, South Africa. A team, consisting of members from government, RioTinto and Eskom, are reviewing the terms of the project in order to align itstiming with the availability of secure power generation capacity from Eskom. "We are committed to working closely with the South African government to assistin mitigating the current energy crisis, while maintaining the option for futurelong term development of the Port Elizabeth region," said Dick Evans, chiefexecutive, Rio Tinto Alcan and member of the Rio Tinto Board. "Rio Tinto hasoperated successfully in South Africa for several decades, and we look forwardto continuing our mutually beneficial presence in the future," he added. Rio Tinto Alcan will work with the government to minimise the impact of apotential rescheduling on regional economic development. "We will continueworking on our local community and social investment plans and remain committedto finding solutions that will lead to the development of this project," saidSandeep Biswas, senior vice president, business development, Rio Tinto Alcan. "The objective is to preserve the feasibility of the project and its underlyingbenefits for both Rio Tinto and South Africa, having the long term picture inmind," he added. The project is moving into an interim phase pending the outcome of ongoingdiscussions regarding the timing of the project. As the detailed feasibilitystudy is concluded, the project team will be adjusted for this interim phase asappropriate. A long-term energy agreement for the proposed smelter was signed with Eskom inNovember 2006, and an agreement for infrastructure and job training support wasconcluded with Coega Development Corporation in July 2007. The IndustrialDevelopment Corporation of South Africa (IDC) is a 15 per cent partner in theproject. An additional ownership allocation, of no less than 5 per cent, hasbeen reserved for Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment partners. Rio Tinto has operated in South Africa for several decades, currently employingover 4130 people, in Palabora Mining Company; Richards Bay Minerals (50/50 jointventure with BHP Billiton), as well as staff in Limpopo and Johannesburgoffices. About Rio Tinto Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK,combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio TintoLimited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Majorproducts are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold,industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore.Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and NorthAmerica with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southernAfrica. Forward-Looking Statements This announcement includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning ofSection 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of theSecurities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other thanstatements of historical facts included in this announcement, including, withoutlimitation, those regarding Rio Tinto's financial position, business strategy,plans and objectives of management for future operations (including developmentplans and objectives relating to Rio Tinto's products and production forecasts),are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve knownand unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actualresults, performance or achievements of Rio Tinto, or industry results, to bematerially different from any future results, performance or achievementsexpressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding RioTinto's present and future business strategies and the environment in which RioTinto will operate in the future. Among the important factors that could causeRio Tinto's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materiallyfrom those in the forward-looking statements include, among others, levels ofactual production during any period, levels of demand and market prices, theability to produce and transport products profitably, the impact of foreigncurrency exchange rates on market prices and operating costs, operationalproblems, political uncertainty and economic conditions in relevant areas of theworld, the actions of competitors, activities by governmental authorities suchas changes in taxation or regulation and such other risk factors identified inRio Tinto's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the United StatesSecurities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") or Form 6-Ks furnished to theSEC. Forward-looking statements should, therefore, be construed in light of suchrisk factors and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. These forward-lookingstatements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Rio Tinto expresslydisclaims any obligation or undertaking (except as required by applicable law,the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the "Takeover Code"), the UK ListingRules, the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Services Authorityand the Listing Rules of the Australian Securities Exchange) to release publiclyany updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein toreflect any change in Rio Tinto's expectations with regard thereto or any changein events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based. Nothing in this announcement should be interpreted to mean that future earningsper share of Rio Tinto plc or Rio Tinto Limited will necessarily match or exceedits historical published earnings per share. Subject to the requirements of the Takeover Code, none of Rio Tinto, any of itsofficers or any person named in this announcement with their consent or anyperson involved in the preparation of this announcement makes any representationor warranty (either express or implied) or gives any assurance that the impliedvalues, anticipated results, performance or achievements expressed or implied inforward-looking statements contained in this announcement will be achieved. For further information, please contact: Media Relations, London Media Relations, AustraliaChristina Mills Ian HeadOffice: +44 (0) 20 7781 1154 Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3620Mobile: +44 (0) 7825 275 605 Mobile: +61 (0) 408 360 101 Nick Cobban Amanda BuckleyOffice: +44 (0) 20 7781 1138 Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3627Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 041 003 Mobile: +61 (0) 419 801 349 Rio Tinto Alcan Media Relations, Canada Rio Tinto Alcan Media Relations,Stefano Bertolli South AfricaTel.: +1 514 848 8151 Robert [email protected] Tel.: +27 (0) 11 303 8919 [email protected] Media Relations, US Nancy IvesMobile: +1 619 540 3751 Investor Relations, London Investor Relations, AustraliaNigel Jones Dave SkinnerOffice: +44 (0) 20 7753 2401 Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3628Mobile: +44 (0) 7917 227 365 Mobile: +61 (0) 408 335 309 David Ovington Simon EllinorOffice: +44 (0) 20 7753 2326 Office:+ 61 (0) 7 3867 1068Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 010 978 Investor Relations, North AmericaJason CombesOffice: +1 (0) 801 685 4535Mobile: +1 (0) 801 558 2645 Email: [email protected] Websites: www.riotinto.com www.riotinto.com/riotintoalcan This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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