Diversified major Rio Tinto will seek to raise up to $500-million in additional lending under existing project financing for the Oyu Tolgoi underground project, in Mongolia.
The company owns Oyu Tolgoi through its majority ownership in Toronto-listed Turquoise Hill, which has a 66% interest in the Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold mine.
In a statement announcing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on funding, Rio Tinto and Turquoise Hill said that they would pursue reprofiling of principle debt repayments with lenders under existing project finance arrangements to better align with the revised mine plan, project timing and cash flows.