Rio Tinto CEO: Want More Involvement In Oyu Tolgoi, Not Less

Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) said Friday it wants more involvement in the Mongolian Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project.

"We are protecting our rights with Ivanhoe and we see a pathway for increasing our interest in the project," said Rio Chief Executive Tom Albanese. "We want to be in there more."

Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN) owns a 66% stake in Oyu Tolgoi and the Mongolian government owns the rest. Rio Tinto, the project operator, has a 34.9% stake in Ivanhoe.

Ivanhoe is in the midst of an arbitration process with Rio Tinto over Ivanhoe's shareholders' rights plan, which Rio says conflicts with a private placement agreement the two signed in 2006.

The private placement agreement allows the Anglo-Australian miner to raise its stake in the Canada-based mining company to about 46.65% and no more before 2011.

Oyu Tolgoi expects to start production in late 2012 and expects to start commercial production in 2013. It is expected to ramp up annual production to more than 450,000 metric tons of copper and 650,000 troy ounces of gold.

-By Devon Maylie and Alex MacDonald, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0)20 7842 9483; devon.maylie@dowjones.com

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