Rio’s Eddington Stands Down From Chinalco Vote, Australian Says

Feb. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Rio Tinto Group director Rod Eddington won’t vote on the mining company’s proposed $19.5 billion deal with Aluminium Corp. of China because of a perceived conflict of interest, the Australian newspaper said. Eddington has chosen to stand aside because he chairs the Australian operations of JPMorgan Chase & Co., one of Aluminium Corp.’s advisers on the deal, the newspaper reported. Mike Fitzpatrick will be the sole Australian resident on the Rio board of 12 non-executive directors debating the ownership of key Australian aluminum and iron ore assets, the report said. Eddington declined to comment, the newspaper added. To contact the reporter for this story: Jacob Greber in Sydney at jgreber@bloomberg.net