Rio Tinto sells Aussie coal mine to Indonesia's Salim Group

Global resources heavyweight Rio Tinto Plc is selling one of its last remaining Australian coal assets to Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group as the company continues its exit from coal as commodities continue to tumble.

Rio Tinto on Wednesday announced it was selling its Mount Pleasant thermal coal mine to private company MACH Energy Australia Pty Ltd for 224 million U.S. dollars plus royalties. MACH Energy Australia is a subsidiary of Indonesian conglomerate Salim Group, owned by Indonesia's third richest man, Anthoni Salim.

Royalties from the colliery would only be payable once thermal coal - used in power generation - prices exceed 72.50 U.S. dollars per tonne, well above current spot delivery prices of around 47 U.S. dollars per tonne.

"We believe Mount Pleasant can have a very positive future under its new owners with different priorities for development and capital allocation," Rio Tinto copper & coal chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques said in a statement.

Mount Pleasant's sale of its stake in the Bengalla joint venture last year for 606 million U.S. dollars, leaves the company with two assets in the NSW Hunter Valley area - Hunter Valley Operations and Mount Thorley Warkworth mines - producing 25 million tonnes of coal per annum.

The sale of Mount Pleasant is expected to be concluded in the second quarter of 2016 following final regulatory approvals and the restructure of mine's operator Coal & Allied.

The sale of Rio Tinto's Hunter Valley mine comes at a time when other global heavyweights have assets on the market as other major miners divest on the continuing falls in commodities, making buyers hard to find. Rio has so far divested 4.7 billion U.S. dollars since January 2013 as it continues its focus on iron ore, gold and copper.

Swiss-based Glencore has effectively closed its Collinsville colliery in Queensland state after it was put into idle mode late last year, restricting production to in-pit inventory and current stockpiles with little cost or effort unless prices for thermal coal improve.

Meanwhile resources giant Anglo American is undertaking a mammoth global restructure, significantly cutting its workforce and flagging ongoing asset sales to write off billions in debt against loss making mines.

Four of Anglo Australian collieries are for sale, three in Queensland state and one in New South Wales state; however, three others are potentially on the chopping block.

At 10:57 local time, Rio's shares were trading 48 Australian cents (33.78 U.S. cents), or 1.23 percent lower to 38.69 Australian dollars (27.22 U.S. dollars). Endit