Rio Tinto Group completed its exit from coal with a bang, agreeing to sell more than $4 billion of Australian mines in just a week. 

The world’s second-biggest miner on Tuesday agreed to sell its last coal mine, the Kestrel operation in Australia’s Queensland state, for $2.25 billion to private equity firm EMR Capital and Indonesia’s PT Adaro Energy. That follows announcements last week that Rio will offload coal assets to Glencore Plc for $1.7 billion in cash and sell an undeveloped project.

Rio’s decision is aimed at prioritizing iron ore, copper, bauxite and aluminum operations, Chief Executive Officer Jean-Sebastien Jacques said Saturday in an interview with Bloomberg Television. Jacques has argued that even a mining firm as large as his has only so much managerial talent and money, and must focus those on more productive assets.

Rio has also been able to sell coal mines for what it sees as good prices, allowing more cash to be returned to shareholders. The sales deliver “exceptional value to our shareholders and will leave our portfolio stronger,” Jacques said in a statement.

Rio’s energy operations, including coal, uranium and other assets, accounted for about 7 percent of revenue last year, down from a peak of 24 percent a decade earlier, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Source: BloombergTv.mn