moz in today's australian

Don't know whether anyone got a chance to read this :

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/rio-keeps-shedding-non-core-mines-to-bolster-balance-sheet/story-e6frg9df-1226763813070#

This is a copy of the article also :

Rio keeps shedding non-core mines to bolster balance sheet



ANDREW BURRELL THE AUSTRALIAN NOVEMBER 20, 2013 12:00AM
MINING giant Rio Tinto is continuing to divest non-core assets under chief executive Sam Walsh, with listed junior explorer Mozambi Coal buying two coal exploration licences from the mining giant in Queensland.
The Perth-based Mozambi told the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday it had paid Rio an initial $375,000 for the licences, which are in the Bowen Basin and Styx Basin.

Additional payments of up to $3 million would be made on delineation of a resource of more than 50 million tonnes and when coal exports begin.

Shares in Mozambi, which is planning to focus on exploration in Australia after a largely unsuccessful stint in Mozambique, surged 15 per cent on news of the agreement with Rio.

One of the coal licences is in the Bowen Basin, 100km west of Mackay in Queensland, and covers an area of about 30sq km.

The adjacent title holders include Aquila Resources and Xstrata Coal.

The other licence is adjacent to the Styx Basin, 117km south of Mackay, and is near titles held by BHP Billiton, Anglo Coal and Waratah Coal.

The small-scale deal with Mozambi comes weeks after the $US1.015 billion sale of Rio's controlling stake in the Clermont coalmine in Queensland to a Glencore-Xstrata-led joint venture.

In July, Rio also sold a majority stake in NSW copper and gold mine Northparkes to China Molybdenum for $US820m.

In a separate deal announced yesterday, Rio sold down its stake in aluminium products company Constellium for nearly $US330m, according to a regulatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

As a result, Rio's stake in the Amsterdam-based company has fallen from 28 per cent to 9.2 per cent.

The recent sell-downs are a key plank of Mr Walsh's campaign to get rid of non-core mines to bolster the mining giant's balance sheet in the face of slowing global demand for resources.

Rio is attempting to slash costs to cut debt that swelled to almost $US19bn last year as it looks to protect its single-A credit rating.

- See more at: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/rio-keeps-shedding-non-core-mines-to-bolster-balance-sheet/story-e6frg9df-1226763813070#sthash.PPdPML62.dpufRegards,