Tin

World number two miner Rio Tinto has taken a majority stake in Ivanhoe Mines, its partner on the massive Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia, purchasing a 51% interest. A favourite stock of punters, Ivanhoe surrendered 4% in Toronto on Tuesday.

Hana Mining moved up 4.32% today on positive drill results from its exploration property in Botswana.

A new survey out Tuesday shows South Africa’s appeal for mining investment has declined dramatically since 2006 and the country now ranks a lowly 67th out of 79 countries in the study.

Bloomberg reports that Ivanplats Ltd., an Africa-focused mining company controlled by billionaire CEO Robert Friedland, may seek up to $1 billion in an IPO.

Quadra FNX Mining (TSX:QUX) has updated the resource at its Victoria Mine in Ontario, Canada.

Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE:FCX), which operates the world's largest gold and copper mine in Papua, Indonesia, said that its 4Q net income tumbled to $640 million or 67 cents per share compared with net income of $1.5 billion or $1.63 per share a year ago.

The Globe & Mail reports Ivanhoe Mines, building Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi, will scrap a controversial “poison pill” that clears the way for Rio Tinto, which already owns 49% of the Vancouver-based company, to do a complete takeover. The shareholder provision would have triggered an automatic rights offer estimated at $73 billion.

Zambia Daily Mail is reporting that a mining licence will soon be issued for a lead-zinc mine.

Perceiving a cloudy future for world markets, Ivanhoe Mines (NYSE:IVN) announced that they had negotiated an additional US$1.8 billion bridge financing for Oyu Tolgoi.