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Rio Tinto eyes Iraq's gold and copper
01.08.08
Mining giant Rio Tinto is looking at a possible entry to Iraq to tap the country's copper and gold reserves, many of which are located in the less violence-prone north, according to the country's minister of Industry and minerals Fawzi Hariri.
Rio Tinto, however, played down the idea, saying it has done a "desktop review" of the country but it had no plans to enter Iraq at this stage.
So far, a handful of US and European oil firms have indicated they will sign short-term service contracts this year with the Iraqi government to boost the country's oil production by 500,000 barrels a day to a total of 3 million barrels a day.
