TURQUOISE HILL COULD BE THE NEW BLACK FOR ACQUISITIVE MINER RIO TINTO

Almost a decade after Rio Tinto took its first bite of Ivanhoe Mines speculation is building that Rio may seek to grow its stake in the company that is now known as Turquoise Hill Resources. 

Rio is in a more acquisitive mood than at any time in the past three years, and is keen to buy quality copper assets while commodity prices and asset prices are low.

Shares in Turquoise Hill, 50.79 per cent of which are owned by Rio, hit a seven-year low last month and at current prices Rio could buy the remaining shares for about $US2.3 billion ($3.2 billion).

Turquoise Hill owns 66 per cent of Oyu Tolgoi – a copper, silver and gold mine in Mongolia that Deutsche analyst Paul Young has labelled "the best undeveloped copper project globally and probably the best undeveloped asset in the industry".

Rio