Director dealings: Rio Tinto's Professor L’Estrange doubles stake

Rio Tinto non-executive director Michael L’Estrange almost doubled his stake in the mining heavyweight with a AU$44,590 (£23,000) purchase on Wednesday.

Professor L'Estrange, formerly Australia's high commissioner to the United Kingdom and ex secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, bought 1,000 shares at a price of 44.59 Australian dollars apiece, taking his stake to 2,003 shares.

L'Estrange joined Rio's board in 2014, when the share price was above AUD60, it has recently been below AUD40 as the company and its peers have been slammed by crashing commodity prices.

Rio late last month priced an offer to buy back $1.36bn in debt, as it looks to cut debt amid the commodity downturn, but earlier in May it said it was pressing on with the $5.3bn expansion of its Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia.

Top Director Buys

Rio Tinto (RIO)
Director name: L'Estrange ,Michael
Amount purchased: 1,000 @ A$44.59
Value: A$23,419.12

Wolf Minerals Limited (WLFE)
Director name: Hopkins,John
Amount purchased: 71,899 @ 9.00p
Value: £6,470.91

Wolf Minerals Limited (WLFE)
Director name: Hopkins,John
Amount purchased: 71,899 @ 9.00p
Value: £6,470.91

Wolf Minerals Limited (WLFE)
Director name: Royston Clarke,Nicholas
Amount purchased: 35,950 @ 9.00p
Value: £3,235.50

Wolf Minerals Limited (WLFE)
Director name: Newport,Don
Amount purchased: 35,950 @ 9.00p
Value: £3,235.50

Wolf Minerals Limited (WLFE)
Director name: Hugh Beevor,Ronald
Amount purchased: 35,950 @ 9.00p
Value: £3,235.50

Foreign And Colonial Inv Trust (FRCL)
Director name: Bone,Roger
Amount purchased: 228 @ 437.51p
Value: £997.52

Foreign And Colonial Inv Trust (FRCL)
Director name: Hewitt,Jeffrey
Amount purchased: 114 @ 437.51p
Value: £498.76

Mondi (MNDI)
Director name: King,Andrew
Amount purchased: 11 @ 1,307.50p
Value: £143.82

Mondi (MNDI)
Director name: Hathorn,David A
Amount purchased: 11 @ 1,307.50p
Value: £143.82

Meggitt (MGGT)
Director name: Young,Stephen G
Amount purchased: 31 @ 410.00p
Value: £127.10

Meggitt (MGGT)
Director name: Webb,Doug
Amount purchased: 31 @ 410.00p
Value: £127.10

Drs Data & Research Services (DRS)
Director name: Tebbutt,Arthur M
Amount purchased: 1,262 @ 9.90p
Value: £124.94

Meggitt (MGGT)
Director name: Green,Philip Ernest
Amount purchased: 30 @ 410.00p
Value: £123.00

Top Director Sells

Bt Group (BT.A)
Director name: Patterson,Gavin
Amount purchased: 307,356 @ 445.00p
Value: £1,367,734.14

Bt Group (BT.A)
Director name: Chanmugam,Tony
Amount purchased: 145,508 @ 445.00p
Value: £647,510.57

Bt Group (BT.A)
Director name: Chanmugam,Tony
Amount purchased: 142,877 @ 445.00p
Value: £635,802.62