Rio Tinto suspends senior executive over payments probe

Rio Tinto has suspended one of its senior executives after the company became aware of email correspondence relating to payments of $10.5m to a consultant providing advisory services on the Simandou project in Guinea.

The miner launched an investigation into the matter led by external counsel and based on the probe, it has notified authorities in the UK and the US and is in the process of getting in touch with Australian authorities.

Rio has suspended Alan Davies, the boss of its energy and minerals division, who was in charge of Simandou in 2011. In addition, it said that legal and regulatory affairs secretary Debra Valentine – who had already notified the company of her intention to retire in May 2017 – has stepped down.

“Rio Tinto intends to co-operate fully with any subsequent inquiries from all of the relevant authorities. Further comment at this time is therefore not appropriate.”

At 1000 GMT, Rio shares were down 1.9% to 53.73p.