Rio’s Kennecott abandons Mexico JV with junior Azure

The share price of junior Azure Minerals tumbled by 17% on Friday after a subsidiary of Rio Tinto abandoned a potential copper/gold/silver joint venture project, in Mexico. The subsidiary, Kennecott Exploration Mexico, had been conducting exploration programmes over the Promotorio asset since early 2015, and had to date spent some A$4-million on exploration. However, it has advised Azure that it will not complete the Stage 2 earn-in commitments, which would have seen Kennecott secure a 51% shareholding in the project area.