Australia’s Federal Court has ordered global mining major Rio Tinto to pay a $A750,000 penalty after finding the company had contravened its continuous disclosure obligations.
The court found that between Dec 21 2012 and Jan 17 2013, Rio Tinto failed to disclose material information to the ASX, which included that mining assets held by Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique were no longer economically viable as long-life, large-scale, tier-one coking coal resources. Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) deputy chair Sarah Court said the core of ASIC’s case against Rio Tinto was its continuous disclosure breach.
Rio Tinto was ordered to pay ASIC’s cost of the proceeding.
The court also ordered, with the consent of the parties, that ASIC’s claims against 2 former officers of Rio Tinto, Mr Tom Albanese and Mr Guy Elliott, be dismissed, with the parties bearing their own costs.