Copper miner Ivanhoe ends deal with Rio Tinto

摘要

The rift between Canadian copper and gold minernIvanhoe Mines and Anglo-Australian diversifiednminer Rio Tinto widened further Tuesday, withnIvanhoe's board of directors giving a 60-day noticenthat it planned to terminate an agreement thatnrestricted its ability to sell its equity shares to anstrategic partner. The action follows a disagreementnthat surfaced between the companies overnIvanhoe's shareholder rights plan. Rio Tinto lastnFriday said the plan, adopted in early April, breachesnkey provisions of a private placement ofnIvanhoe stock to Rio Tinto in October 2006, andnreferred the case to arbitration. In March, Rionincreased its share of Ivanhoe to 22.4% followingnthe purchase of 15 million Ivanhoe shares. Then innlate June, Rio exercised warrants to increase itsnshare by a further 7.2% to 29.6% to assist in movingnOyu Tolgoi into production in 2013. Ivanhoenlead director David Huberman in a statementnTuesday said the Ivanhoe board on Monday authorizednthe termination of the Strategic PurchasernCovenant that has restricted the ability of Ivanhoento issue shares to strategic investors sincenOctober 2007. The termination of the covenantnwould permit Ivanhoe to issue more than 5% of itsncommon shares to one or more third-party strategicninvestors, which could include major miningncompanies. "The removal of the strategic purchaserncovenant will give the Ivanhoe board the flexibilitynto consider all available opportunities as part ofnits objective of realizing maximum value fornIvanhoe Mines shareholders," Huberman said.