Rio Tinto sells US mine for 761 million dollars

MELBOURNE (AFP) — Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto said Monday it had agreed to sell a US coal mine to St Louis-based Arch Coal for 761 million US dollars. Rio Tinto said the cash sale of the Jacobs Ranch mine in Wyoming brought the debt-laden company's asset sales this year to 2.5 billion dollars, adding to three billion offloaded in 2008. The company is seeking to dramatically reduce its debt with a 19.5-billion-dollar cash injection from China's state-owned aluminium firm Chinalco, although it needs approval from shareholders and Australian regulators. Rio Tinto shares closed up 1.80 Australian dollars (1.15 US), or 3.94 percent, at 47.50.