Mining giant Rio Tinto on Friday confirmed a huge take-up for its record rights offering after investors snapped up the Australian portion, allowing it to pay off a large chunk of its heavy debt. The dual-listed firm, whose share offer came at rock-bottom prices in Sydney and London, announced a 95 percent subscription among Australian investors following a 97 percent take-up in Britain. Rio can now slash its debt bill incurred by last year's acquisition of Canada's Alcan. The offering, worth 15.2 billion dollars (9.3 billion ...

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Global miner Rio Tinto <RIO.AX> <RIO.L> wrapped up one of the world's biggest rights issues on Friday, saying its Australian shareholders had taken up 94.76 percent of their entitlements to the new shares. On Thursday, UK shareholders had taken up 96.97 percent of the deeply discounted, fully underwitten $15.2 billion rights offer, the fifth-biggest on record, putting the indebted Anglo-Australian group on a firmer financial footing. The issue also marks a bonanza for the banks that underwrote it ...

In breaking news Thursday, Vancouver-based New Guinea Gold (TSX: V.NGG, Stock Forum) announced that its gold production increased 40% in the second quarter of the year, reaching 2246 ounces. The company, a junior explorer in Papua New Guinea, with interests in eight gold and two porphyry copper-gold-molybdenum properties, says Q2’s gold production of 2246 ounces compares to 1,605 ozs in the first quarter, while silver production increased from 210 ozs in the first quarter to 233 ...

Anti-Krizis Art

"Alumina Worker, Cut Costs!" "Say YES to Savings!" "We're Not Afraid of the Crisis!" These are just a few of the slogans thought up by Russian workers as part of a morale-boosting contest run by aluminum giant Rusal. In April, as part of its campaign to slash costs during the global economic slump, the company had workers submit entries for a poster competition. In a tongue-in-cheek reference to Soviet propaganda campaigns, it urged employees to design posters that would wage "all-out war against the crisis" and "crush ...