Rio's Turquoise Hill to sell stake in Altynalmas Gold to Sumeru Gold for $300 mn

Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (formerly Ivanhoe Mines), yesterday said that it will sell its 50-per cent stake in Altynalmas Gold to Sumeru Gold BV, for $300 million, in order to focus on developing its massive Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia.

Altynalmas fully owns the Kyzyl Gold Project in north-eastern Kazakhstan, which contains the Bakyrchik and Bolshevik gold deposits.

Vancouver-based Turquoise Hill acquired an interest in the project in 1996 and acquired its stake in Altynalmas in 2008.

Turquoise Hill, which recently became a subsidiary of Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto, is developing the massive $6 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia

Turquoise Hill also owns a 58-per cent stake in Hong Kong-listed SouthGobi Resources, which owns four coal projects in Mongolia, the producing Ovoot Tolgoi Mine; and three development projects, including the Soumber Deposit, Zag Suuj Deposit and the Ovoot Tolgoi Underground Deposit.

Last year, China's biggest aluminum producer, Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco), dropped its proposed $926 million takeover bid for Turquoise Hill's stake in SouthGobi Resources after the Mongolian government voiced strong opposition to the deal. (See: Chalco drops $926mn bid for SouthGobi Resources)