Mining giant Rio Tinto has completed the sale of its Australian Coal & Allied thermal coal business to China's Yancoal, and has adjusted its 2017 thermal coal production accordingly, the company said on Friday.
"With production from all Hunter Valley coal operations transferring to Yancoal from today [Friday], the group's guidance for thermal coal production in 2017 has been revised to 13-14 million mt, from 17-18 million mt previously," Rio Tinto said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.
Rio Tinto's thermal coal production stood at 4.95 million mt in the April-June quarter, up 15% from January-March, with 3.93 million mt coming from the New South Wales Hunter Valley operations, Mount Thorley, and Warkworth, which are all part of the Coal & Allied business.
Yancoal fended off rival bids from Glencore to secure Rio Tinto's Coal & Allied business.
"We look forward to maximising significant operational synergies from the combination of Coal & Allied's world-class assets with our existing portfolio," Yancoal's chief executive officer, Reinhold Schmidt, said on Friday.
