Rio Tinto eyes stake in Russian potash miner Uralkali

Barely a month after the world's largest miner BHP Billiton made a hostile $39-billion takeover bid for Canada's Potash Corp, rival mining giant Rio Tinto is eyeing Russia's second-largest potash miner Uralkali for a 10 to 15-per cent stake, Russian business daily Vedomosti reported yesterday.

Citing three sources close to Uralkali and its shareholders, Vedomosti said that a Rio Tinto team has arrived last week in Russia, which is studying the work of Berezniki-based Uralkali, accompanied by representatives of the company's largest shareholder Suleiman Kerimov.

Sources indicated that the Anglo-Australian miner is ready to acquire a 10 to 15-per cent stake in the Russian potash company, valuing it at approximately $15 billion.

Uralkali has a market capitalisation of around $9.8 billion.

Neither Rio Tinto nor Uralkali made any comment on the media report.

Uralkali, located in the Prem territory in the western part of Russia, is a leading global producer of potash fertilizer with a key market share of around 9-per cent. The company sells its products through Belorussian Potash Company, one of the world's leading potash exporters to Brazil, India, China, Southeast Asia, Russia, the US, and the European Union.