PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has opened an investigation into suspected corruption by mining major Rio Tinto in its business dealings in Guinea.
The miner in late 2016 alerted the SFO and the US Department of Justice to a $10.5-million payment to a consultant for the Simandou iron-ore project. The miner subsequently terminated the contracts of energy and minerals chief Alan Davies and legal and regulatory affairs group executive Debra Valentine.
The Australian Federal Police in March this year also launched an investigation into the payment.
Rio Tinto in October last year signed a nonbinding agreement to sell its stake in the long-stalled Simandou project to Chinese partner Chinalco. The deal is valued at between $1.1-billion and $1.3-billion, based on the timing of the development of the project.
The Simandou project is one of the world's largest untapped resources of high-grade iron-ore used in the steelmaking process.