Aluminium sell-off talk sparks Rio Tinto surge

MINING titan Rio Tinto sparked traders’ interest with rumours it was mulling the sale of Europe’s biggest aluminium smelter.

The metal – used in drinks cans and aeroplanes – has jumped 28pc in price this year, helped by an impending crackdown on illegal Chinese production.

Rio’s Dunkerque smelter in northern France can churn out 270,000 tons of aluminium each year, and is reportedly catching the eye of private equity firms.

The miner is also said to be plotting a sale of its Iceland smelter, and doubling down on efforts to ditch its Pacific Aluminium business. It is part of a wider push to make the company less complicated which has seen Rio axe £5.4bn of assets since 2013. The stock closed up 0.9pc, or 34p, at 3710p.

In other mining news, platinum producer Lonmin saw shares rocket yesterday when a new deal with bankers calmed nerves over its finances.

The miner has been fighting its way through a turnaround plan forced on it by the commodity’s low price, falling production and a shake-up of employment law in South Africa.

It was feared Lonmin could breach rules set by the lender, denying it the ability to borrow more cash.

But the business has negotiated a new deal allowing its access to credit to continue. It also said that sales would be slightly ahead of expectations this year.

Shareholders greeted the announcement with a collective sigh of relief, sending the stock up 15.2pc, or 11.25p, to 85.25p.

Other prospectors on the move include Thor Mining, which said testing of tungsten deposits in the US state of Nevada was going well. Shares remained flat at 0.82p. Fellow digger Solgold revealed strong potential to expand its gold and copper mine in Ecuador but dropped 6.3pc, or 2.5p, to 37p.

And Vast Resources, which said it was discussing options to fund an expansion of its copper, lead and zinc mine in northern Romania, was handed a 6.25pc, or 0.02p, boost to 0.34p. Away from small-cap land, the

FTSE 100 index gained 0.20pc, or 14.88 points, to close at 7522.87 on a generally lacklustre day.

The biggest riser was Middle Eastern hospital operator NMC

Health, a firm previously tipped for overseas expansion, gaining 4.3pc, or 116p, to 2838p. Mediclinic International, another overseas hospital operator, came in the top five. It was up 3.3pc, or 22p, to 686p, following an upgrade by brokers at Goldman Sachs.

Both businesses earn their cash abroad and may have been boosted by a weaker pound as currency dealers digested the events of a tumultuous Conserva- tive Party conference. At the other end of the blue- chip index,

Easy Jet was down 1.6pc, or 21p, at 1263p, because a record summer for passenger numbers had failed to impress the market.

Marks & Spencer fell 1.5pc, or 5.4p, to 348.7p, while investors contemplated the future of the High Street amid the rise of the internet and a squeeze on living standards.

This consumer disquiet also dealt a blow to AIM-listed LXB

Retail Properties, a Jersey-based investor in out-of-town shopping centres. It said that net asset values would take an unexpected hit from ‘ softening in both the lettings and investment market’.

Shares in the business, which operates 11 sites across the country, dropped 20pc, or 5.88p, to 22.5p.

But there was a better mood at car dealership chain Motorpoint as it shrugged off falling car sales to unveil an 18pc rise in revenue for the six months to September 30. Bosses expect profits to be around £10.5m. The stock climbed 4.8pc, or 6.5p, to 142p.