Rio Tinto looks set to take a $2.5 billion writedown on its huge but troubled copper project in Mongolia.
Construction of the $5 billion (£3.1 billion) Oyu Tolgoi mine has become ensnared in a tax dispute with the government.
The mine has the potential to transform an economy that is on a par with Angola or Swaziland in national income per head. The International Monetary Fund says that it will be responsible for a third of the country’s GDP by the time it is operational.
However, the delays contributed to a $2.5 billion reduction in the project’s value, according to a report by Turqoise Hill, the Rio-controlled company that owns most of the project.
Rio had flagged at its half-year results in August that it