Rio Tinto signs non-binding deal to sell Simandou stake to Chinalco

Rio Tinto has signed a non-binding agreement to sell its entire stake in the Simandou project in Guinea to Chinalco.

The heads of agreement sets out the proposed principal terms of the sale with the aim of signing a binding agreement within six months.

Rio Tinto will receive payments of $1.1bn-1.3bn based on the timing of the development of the project, with the initial payment commencing at the time of first commercial production, on a per tonne basis.

At 1115 BST, Rio shares were up 0.8% to 53.75p.