PALABORA MINING COMPANY LIMITED - Rio Tinto and Anglo American agree to sell their shareholdings in palabora and renewal of cautionary announcement

Rio Tinto and Anglo American agree to sell their shareholdings in palabora and renewal of cautionary announcement

PALABORA MINING COMPANY LIMITED
(Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa)
Registration number – 1956/002134/06
JSE Code: PAM ISIN: ZAE000005245
(“Palabora” or “the Company”)

RIO TINTO GROUP (“RIO TINTO”) AND ANGLO AMERICAN PLC (“ANGLO AMERICAN”) AGREE TO
SELL THEIR SHAREHOLDINGS IN PALABORA AND RENEWAL OF CAUTIONARY ANNOUNCEMENT

Palabora shareholders (“Shareholders”) are referred to the announcement published on SENS on
5 September 2011, regarding the Rio Tinto and Anglo American’s intention to divest their
shareholding in Palabora, which included a cautionary announcement and the further cautionary
announcement published on SENS on 14 November 2012.

The board of Palabora (“Board”) has been informed that Rio Tinto and Anglo American have reached
a binding agreement to sell their combined 74.5 per cent effective interests in Palabora at ZAR 110
per share, subject to customary adjustments upon closing, valuing Palabora (on a 100% basis) at
ZAR 5.31 billion.

The purchaser is a consortium (“Consortium”) comprising South African and Chinese entities led by
the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa Limited (“IDC”) and Hebei Iron & Steel
Group Co. Ltd (“Hebei”).

The Consortium comprises the following parties (respective Consortium interest in brackets):
    • Hebei (35%), a leading international steel producer wholly-owned by the Chinese
       Government;
    • General Nice Development Ltd (25%), a privately-owned Chinese trading company;
    • Tewoo Group Co. Ltd (20%), a major diversified group wholly-owned by the Chinese
       Government; and
    • IDC (20%), a development finance institution wholly-owned by the South African
       Government.

The Board has been informed by Rio Tinto and Anglo American of the following key terms of this
transaction:
    • the sale is subject to certain conditions precedent, including the obtaining of customary
        regulatory approvals in South Africa and China; these are expected to take four to six
        months;
    • Rio Tinto and Anglo American have the ability to receive a superior proposal for their shares
        in Palabora for a period of 90 days;
    • on a 100% basis, the value of ZAR 5.31 billion includes ZAR 2.25 billion in cash on Palabora’s
        balance sheet (as at 30 June 2012); and
    • the Consortium must extend an offer to all remaining shareholders in Palabora upon the sale
        of Rio Tinto’s and Anglo American’s interests becoming unconditional, at ZAR 110 per share,
        subject to customary adjustments upon closing.

The Board will continue to monitor the situation and will make further announcements to
Shareholders as appropriate.

Accordingly, Shareholders are advised to continue exercising caution when dealing in the Company’s
securities until a further announcement is made.
Phalaborwa
11 December 2012

Sponsor
One Capital

Date: 11/12/2012 02:30:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE'). 
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