RIO Rio Tinto Plc

LONDON—Mining company Rio Tinto PLC on Thursday said it was under investigation by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission over an impairment it booked in 2012 against its operations in Mozambique.

Rio said it was cooperating with the SEC's probe, which it said started in 2013, but that it would be "inappropriate to comment further at this time" because the investigation is ongoing.

The company was responding to media reports earlier this week that the SEC was examining the timing of $3 billion of impairment charges it booked on a Mozambique coal deal.

Rio bought Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique in 2011 and sold it in 2014.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 01, 2016 03:15 ET (08:15 GMT)

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