Australian mining giant Rio Tinto's CEO Tom Albanese on August 20 rejected speculation suggesting that the proposed BHP Billiton-Rio Tinto iron ore joint venture (JV) is "dead" due to regulatory disapproval.
According to Australian media reports, Albanese told reporters that he remained strongly committed to the joint venture, although he conceded that it faced significant regulatory hurdles around the world. He was commenting on an Australian news article which suggested that the deal was "dead", based on a statement by an unnamed BHP executive.
The proposed BHP Billiton-Rio Tinto JV looks to achieve integration of their entire production activities in Western Australia, a venture worth more than US$100 billion.
As SteelOrbis previously reported, Germany's Federal Cartel Office, the European Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission are among the institutions investigating the proposed joint venture.