LONDON (Reuters) - Global miner Rio Tinto is adamant it has rights to the whole of the Simandou iron ore deposit in Guinea after a newspaper said the government threatened to take away another part of the massive concession.
"We have always maintained our firm rights to the entire mining concession that was granted based on the 2003 Mining Convention between Rio Tinto and the Government of Guinea," Rio said in a emailed statement on Wednesday.
The Financial Times said the government sent a letter to Rio demanding it renounce rights to two of four blocks that were taken away in 2008 and awarded to a rival mining group.
Failure to acknowledge the previous decision might mean that one of Rio's two remaining blocks may also be reclaimed, it added.
Rio confirmed that it had received a letter from the government but declined to give details of its content.
