LONDON (ShareCast) - (Sharecast News) - Canada's Turquoise Hill Resources said Rio Tinto will provide it with interim debt funding of up to $400m while it assesses the Anglo-Australian mining giant's $2.7bn bid for the company.
Rio Tinto in March said it wanted to buy out the 49% of Turquoise Hill it did not already own for about $2.7bn in cash, which would give it direct ownership of the massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mining project in Mongolia.

Rio said it had also agreed to extend the date by which TRQ can conduct an initial liquidity offering of at least $650m to December 31 from August 31.

Turquoise Hill sole asset is a 66% stake in the delayed and over-budget Oyu Tolgoi, one of the world's largest known copper and gold deposits. The government of Mongolia owns the remaining 34%.

Rio and Turquoise Hill had been embroiled in a dispute over funding for the mine's $6.93bn expansion, finally reaching agreement in April.

However, the offer has seen opposition from major Turquoise Hill shareholders, including activist investor Pentwater Capital Management, which said the offer was too low.

Pentwater last year filed a class action in the US against Rio for damages, alleging the miner hid problems at Oyu Tolgoi project for months.

Email this article to a friend

or share it with one of these popular networks:

• DIGG
• FACEBOOK
• STUMBLEUPON
• MIXX
• YAHOO BUZZ
• DELICIOUS
• REDDIT
• NEWSVINE