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Form 6-K RIO TINTO PLC For: Dec 31

January 6, 2016 4:07 PM EST

 

 

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC 20549

 

FORM 6-K

 

 REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER

PURSUANT TO RULE 13A-16 OR 15D-16 OF

THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

 

For the month of December 2015

 

Commission file number: 001-10533

Commission file number: 001-34121

 

 

Rio Tinto plc

Rio Tinto Limited

 

ABN 96 004 458 404

(Translation of registrant’s name into English)

(Translation of registrant’s name into English)

 

 

6 St James’s Square

Level 33, 120 Collins Street

London, SW1Y 4AD, United Kingdom

Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia

(Address of principal executive offices)

(Address of principal executive offices)

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F:

 

Form 20-F _X_  Form 40-F ___

 

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1): ___

 

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7): ___

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form, the registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to

Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

 

Yes ___  No _X_

 

 

If "Yes" is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection

with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82- ________

 

 

 

 


 

 

EXHIBITS

 

 

 

 

99.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

15 December 2015

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oyu Tolgoi signs Project Finance agreement

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

SIGNATURES

 

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrants have duly caused this report to be signed on their behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorised.

 

Rio Tinto plc              

Rio Tinto Limited

(Registrant)            

(Registrant)

 

 

 

 

By  /s/  Eleanor Evans

By  /s/ Eleanor Evans     

Name  Eleanor Evans      

Name   Eleanor Evans

Title     Company Secretary   

Title     Joint Company Secretary

 

 

Date    6 January 2016   

6 January 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 



Media release

 

Oyu Tolgoi signs Project Finance agreement

15 December 2015

The development of the Oyu Tolgoi underground mine in Mongolia took an important step forward today with the signing of a US$4.4 billion project financing agreement.

Oyu Tolgoi has secured Project Finance for the underground mine development with funding by international financial institutions and export credit agencies representing the governments of the United States, Canada and Australia, along with 15 commercial banks.

Today’s signing in Ulaanbaatar follows the agreement earlier this year of the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan by the Government of Mongolia, Turquoise Hill Resources and Rio Tinto, which set out a pathway towards development, including the basis for the funding of the project.

Rio Tinto and all Oyu Tolgoi shareholders will now continue to work towards updating the feasibility study, including the revised capital estimates, and securing all necessary permits for the development of the underground mine. Once these steps have been completed the project will be submitted to the various boards for approval and the $4.4 billion tranche will be drawn down.

Rio Tinto Copper and Coal chief executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques said “This Project Finance agreement is significant in the industry and is the next important step towards further development of the world class Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.

“This kind of mining development partnership model sets the industry benchmark for future schemes and underscores Rio Tinto’s commitment to responsible and prudent growth. Long-term copper fundamentals remain strong and Oyu Tolgoi as a tier one asset will be a globally important source of supply as the market moves back into structural deficit over the next few years.”

Under the project financing, Initial Senior Loans will total $4.4 billion and will consist of facilities provided and funded by Export Development Canada (“EDC”), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“EBRD”), the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), the Export-Import Bank of the United States, the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation of Australia (“Efic”) and commercial lenders comprising BNP Paribas, ANZ, ING, Société Générale Corporate & Investment Banking, Sumitomo Mitsui, Standard Chartered Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Crédit Agricole, Intesa Sanpaolo, National Australia Bank, Natixis, HSBC, The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, KfW IPEX-Bank and Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) provided political risk insurance for the commercial banks.

EDC, EBRD, IFC and BNP Paribas acted as Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers and Standard Chartered Bank as Initial Lead Arranger. BNP Paribas was the sole bookrunner of the $2.34 billion facilities funded by the commercial banks, together with EBRD and IFC on their respective B loans.

The parties have agreed a debt cap of $6 billion, providing the option for an additional $1.6 billion of Supplemental Debt in future.

For more details of the project financing facility please refer to the announcement released by Turquoise Hill Resources Limited today at: www.turquoisehill.com/s/news_releases.asp?ReportID=733885.

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Note to editors

Oyu Tolgoi is a copper-gold mine in the South Gobi region of Mongolia and is one of the largest undeveloped high-grade copper deposits in the world.

Oyu Tolgoi has a workforce that is 95 per cent Mongolian and Oyu Tolgoi LLC has paid $1.3 billion in taxes, fees and other payments to the Government of Mongolia to date.

Construction of an open-pit mine was completed on schedule in less than 24 months and production started in 2013. More than 1.5 million tonnes of copper concentrate have now been produced from Oyu Tolgoi.

While all of the copper concentrate currently produced is from the open pit mine, more than 80 per cent of the value of Oyu Tolgoi lies in the proposed underground mine. All funding and work on the development of the underground mine was delayed in July 2013 but the Oyu Tolgoi Underground Mine Development and Financing Plan, agreed in May 2015, resolved key outstanding shareholder issues and set out an agreed basis for the funding of the project.

Some $6.4 billion has been invested to develop the open-pit mine at Oyu Tolgoi, with an additional $500 million of capital costs for initial development of the underground mine.

Oyu Tolgoi is seeking to raise up to $6 billion of limited recourse project finance to refinance existing shareholder funding and support development of the underground phase. The initial project finance tranche of $4.4 billion has been secured today and will be drawn down subject to customary approvals as well as Rio Tinto, Turquoise Hill Resources and Oyu Tolgoi board approval of the underground mine development. The Oyu Tolgoi underground development will be funded by this project finance debt and cash flows from Oyu Tolgoi’s open-pit operations plus cash held by Turquoise Hill Resources.

Rio Tinto was advised by Rothschild while Sullivan & Cromwell LLP acted as legal counsel. Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP acted as legal counsel for the lender group.

Forward-looking statements

This announcement includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this announcement, including, without limitation, those regarding Rio Tinto’s financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations (including development plans and objectives relating to Rio Tinto’s products, production forecasts and reserve and resource positions), are forward-looking statements. The words “intend”, “aim”, “project”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “plan”, “believes”, “expects”, “may”, “should”, “will”, “target”, “set to” or similar expressions, commonly identify such forward-looking statements.

 

 

 

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Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Rio Tinto, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding Rio Tinto’s present and future business strategies and the environment in which Rio Tinto will operate in the future. Among the important factors that could cause Rio Tinto’s actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are levels of actual production during any period, levels of demand and market prices, the ability to produce and transport products profitably, the impact of foreign currency exchange rates on market prices and operating costs, operational problems, political uncertainty and economic conditions in relevant areas of the world, the actions of competitors, activities by governmental authorities such as changes in taxation or regulation and such other risk factors identified in Rio Tinto's most recent Annual Report and Accounts in Australia and the United Kingdom and the most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") or Form 6-Ks furnished to, or filed with, the SEC. Forward-looking statements should, therefore, be construed in light of such risk factors and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Rio Tinto expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking (except as required by applicable law, the UK Listing Rules, the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority and the Listing Rules of the Australian Securities Exchange) to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Rio Tinto’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Contacts

 

[email protected]

 

www.riotinto.com

 

  Follow @RioTinto on Twitter

 

 

Media Relations, EMEA/Americas

Illtud Harri

T +44 20 7781 1152

M +44 7920 503 600

 

David Outhwaite

T +44 20 7781 1623

M +44 7787 597 493

 

David Luff

T + 44 20 7781 1177
M + 44 7780 226 422

 

Investor Relations, EMEA/Americas

John Smelt

T +44 20 7781 1654

M +44 7879 642 675

 

David Ovington

T +44 20 7781 2051

M +44 7920 010 978

 

Grant Donald

T +44 20 7781 1262

M +44 7920 587 805

 

Media Relations, Australia/Asia

Ben Mitchell

T +61 3 9283 3620

M +61 419 850 212

 

Bruce Tobin

T +61 3 9283 3612

M +61 419 103 454

 

Matthew Klar

T +61 7 3625 4244

M +61 457 525 578

 

Investor Relations, Australia/Asia

Natalie Worley

T +61 3 9283 3063

M +61 409 210 462

 

Rachel Storrs

T +61 3 9283 3628

M +61 417 401 018

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rio Tinto plc

6 St James’s Square

London, SW1Y 4AD

United Kingdom

 

T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England

No. 719885

Rio Tinto Limited

120 Collins Street

Melbourne 3000

Australia

 

T +61 3 9283 3333

Registered in Australia

ABN 96 004 458 404

 

 

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