Rio Tinto shares plunge more than 3 percent after China claims a 6-year spying campaign

Rio Tinto prices plunge on China spy claims

SYDNEY —Rio Tinto Ltd.’s share price plunged more than 3 percent Monday after China accused the Anglo-Australian miner of conducting a six-year spying campaign that it claimed cost Chinese steelmakers billions of dollars in inflated prices for iron ore.

Rio Tinto declined to respond to the latest allegations but said in July that bribery allegations against four Rio Tinto employees detained in China were baseless.

A report Sunday on a Web site run by China’s Bureau of State Secrets claimed Rio Tinto used “used all possible means” to obtain secret information, including bribery and spying.

It said Chinese steel companies paid 700 billion yuan (US$102 billion) more for imported iron ore than they would have. The report did not say how it calculated that figure, or cite specific evidence to back the allegations.

Shares in Rio, the world’s third-largest miner, plummeted 3.3 percent on the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday to close at AU$58.55. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index closed flat.

Rio is headquartered in London and also has executive offices in Australia, where its main iron ore mining operation is located.

One of the detained Rio employees, Stern Hu, is an Australian citizen, and the case has raised tensions between Beijing and Canberra.

Beijing has released no details about the case, but state media say the employees are suspected of paying bribes for information on China’s negotiating stance in iron ore price talks. Chinese news reports say executives of at least five major Chinese mills are being questioned.

Chinese-born Hu, the manager of Rio Tinto’s Chinese iron ore business, and three Chinese co-workers were detained July 5 as protracted talks on iron ore prices were under way with Chinese steel mills.