Rio Tinto

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Crisis Averted: Radioactive Capsule Is Found

Exposure unlikely as capsule located along lonely stretch of West Australia highway

(Newser) - The radioactive capsule lost during an 870-mile journey through Western Australia has been located. "The search groups have quite literally found the needle in the haystack," Australia's Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said at a Wednesday news conference, per Reuters , adding the tiny silver capsule containing Caesium-137...

Rio Tinto: Sorry We Lost That Radioactive Capsule

Mining giant says hunt is still on in Western Australia for tiny container with cesium 137

(Newser) - One of the largest mining companies in the world is now apologizing for losing a teensy capsule filled with a whole lot of danger. "We recognize this is clearly very concerning and are sorry for the alarm it has caused in the Western Australian community," Simon Trott, CEO...

Australia to Mining Firm: Rebuild Those Ancient Caves

Rio Tinto detonated explosives to access iron ore

(Newser) - Calling the destruction of 46,000-year-old Aboriginal caves "inexcusable," lawmakers in Western Australia have ordered a mining firm to rebuild caves that are among the country's most significant archaeological sites, the BBC reports. The company, Rio Tinto, detonated explosives in May to access $96 million in iron...

Top Mining Execs Resign Over Destruction of Ancient Site

Rio Tinto blew up 46K-year-old Aboriginal site

(Newser) - Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques will leave the Anglo-Australian mining giant by March over the destruction of Australian Indigenous sacred sites to access iron ore, the company says. “Significant stakeholders have expressed concerns about executive accountability for the failings identified,” Rio Tinto said in a statement. By...

Miner Rio Tinto Cuts 14,000 Jobs

Plan to reduce debt $10B also means cuts in spending on exploration

(Newser) - Global mining firm Rio Tinto will cut 14,000 jobs and scale back spending on exploration, reports the BBC, in a bid to slash its $40 billion debt 25% by 2010. The miner, the third largest in the world, said the “rapidity and severity of the global economic downturn"...

Mining Mergers May Take Page From Big Oil

Proposed consolidation could drive commodity prices even higher

(Newser) - When Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP Billiton announced its bid to merge with archrival Rio Tinto, the Wall Street Journal got déjà vu. The deal, which would combine the world’s largest and third-largest miners, looks a lot like the late-'90s megamergers that produced today’s Big Oil titans. “...

Deal Could Forge Mining Goliath
Deal Could Forge Mining Goliath

Deal Could Forge Mining Goliath

Sky-high demand for minerals driving mergers

(Newser) - The biggest mining company in the world is aiming to get even bigger. BHP Billiton's $142 billion bid for Rio Tinto has been turned down, but the firm is still keen to make a deal, reports the Wall Street Journal. The deal would be the second-largest in history, and the...

Retail Reports Catapult Markets
Retail Reports Catapult Markets

Retail Reports Catapult Markets

Dow's 283.86 point gain is biggest in 5 years; Rio Tinto buys Alcan

(Newser) - The Dow soared 283.86 points to 13861.73 today, its largest single-day rally since 2002 and another record close. Traders ignored ongoing bearish rumors from the subprime sector, focusing on better-than-expected June reports from a host of retailers including Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney and American Express.

8 Stories