Could Queensland-based mining company New Hope run Rio Tinto’s coal mines in Australia?

The New Hope Corporation’s interest in purchasing Rio Tinto coal assets in Australia could start a battle with mining giants Glencore.

New Hope, which operates the huge New Ackland coal mine west of Toowoomba, has its eye on some of coal Rio’s mines in New South Wales. In the running are Glencore and X2 Resources for controlling stakes in Rio’s three mines,� valued at close to $3 billion to $4 billion.

‘lift the profitability of the coal assets’

Glencore’s CEO Ivan Glasenberg entered talks with Rio to discuss selling of its Australian mines or even collaborating on a joint venture operation to lift the profitability of the coal assets.

While formal notification of the intention of interest have been lodged with Rio Tinto, it hasn’t decided whether it will sell off it’s assets.

New Hope, based in Queensland, said earlier this year it was looking at investing a portion of its $1.1 billion of cash reserves to purchase the mines.

If Rio decides to sell-off these mines it would� the company, headed by CEO Sam Walsh to shine the spotlight on ramping up its iron ore and copper production.

As always, if the price is right, then Rio will more than likely sell off the ailing coal mines in NSW. This was the topic of conversation this week at an event with mining analysts, according to a UBS Group research note.

iMINCO could not get any information on comments made by Rio, Glencore, New Hope and X2 Resources as they remain tight-lipped over the potential sale.

With coal prices at a low, we’re seeing some of the larger mining companies shuffling to take control of the assets, setting the stage for future coal prices to normalise and effectively creating a monopoly by owning the resource.

Coal still represents the best value

Despite what we hear in the news about the decline of coal fired power stations and the effects of carbon emissions, popular opinion suggests that of all the power generating options that exist in the world today, coal still represents the best value.

‘say no to nukes’

Who wants nuclear power stations and uranium in their back garden, wind power seems to have never gotten off the ground – at least not in Australia – and don’t even mention solar. For a country blessed with more sunshine than you can ‘poke a stick at’, the Australian government seems hell-bent on dumbing-down this technology.

Watch this space, because we’ve not seen the end of coal in this country just yet. Get the latest Australian mining news each week for ‘New Hope Corp Rio Tinto Australian coal mines’ with iMINCO Project News.