Shanghai, 20 August 2010

Rio Tinto CEO Tom Albanese said the miner would keep seeking regulatory approval for a $116 billion joint venture with BHP Billiton after a report that the deal faces collapse. Global miners BHP and Rio expect the iron ore joint venture in Western Australia will fail to get regulatory approval, the Sydney Morning Herald reported on Friday.

The joint venture would generate $5 billion in cost savings annually for BHP and comes as the world's largest diversified miner launches a $39 billion hostile bid for Potash Corp.

Albanese, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an industry conference in Shanghai, said the technical arguments for the iron ore joint venture remained strong.

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