The trial of four Rio Tinto staff charged with commercial spying in China will begin on March 22 in a Shanghai court, Australia’s foreign affairs department said on Wednesday.

The four Rio employees, including Australian citizen Stern Hu, have been in Chinese custody since July over accusations of illegally obtaining commercial secrets.
"Mr Hu and the other defendants will be tried by the Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People’s Court, commencing on Monday March 22," said the department, after being advised of the trial date by court officials.

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According to the Australian foreign affairs department, the trial of the four Rio Tinto employees accused by China of commercial spying will commence on Monday, March 22.

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The US-based coal miner spun off by Rio Tinto said the results were helped by stronger prices from forward sales contracts

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Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto is in talks with China’s top aluminium group, Chinalco, to develop the massive Simandou iron ore project in Guinea at an expected cost of $12-billion, an Australian newspaper said on Tuesday.

A venture between Rio Tinto and Chinalco would mark a turnaround for the companies after Rio last year scrapped a $19,5-billion equity and asset tie-up with the state-owned Chinese firm in a falling-out that also hurt Australia-China relations.

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The report by the Asian superpower said nether Rio Tinto or the Australian government were to blame for the collapse of the $19.5bn tie-up

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Russian nickel producer Norilsk Nickel on Thursday confirmed that it was withdrawing from its joint-venture (JV) with diversified miner Rio Tinto, in order to “concentrate its efforts on current projects”.

However, a spokesperson for Rio Tinto told Mining Weekly Online that the two parties were in “discussions” and that the JV remained in place for the time being.

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Indonesia has given the local unit of Rio Tinto a mining permit for a nickel project in Sulawesi worth $2-billion, the company said on Tuesday.

The long-awaited permit is the first to be issued under a new Indonesian mining law passed in 2008 and could help increase certainty and lift flagging investment in the country’s mining sector.

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The long-awaited permit for a nickel project in Sulawesi worth $2bn is the first to be issued under new Indonesian mining law

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The benchmark pricing system for iron-ore must “evolve” as more volumes are sold into the more volatile spot market, Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese said on Monday.

“If it doesn’t evolve it is going to break,” he said at an industry conference hosted by BMO Capital Markets, under way this week in Florida.

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Diversified miner Rio Tinto has increased its stake in TSX-listed Ivanhoe Mines to 22,4% for an additional investment of C$244,7-million.

It has agreed to buy a further 15-million shares, or 2,7% of the total issued shares, of the Vancouver-based miner at a subscription price of C$16,31 a share.

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