Why China Jailed 4 Rio Tinto Employees

Rio Tinto went back on its word in a tense situation and ended up paying the price. In the early 2000s, China began a magnificent economic growth trend at a scale unlike anything before seen in this world.

That growth, however, found itself dependent on a single valuable commodity. China, the world's biggest maker of things as varied as cabbages to door knobs, does not have enough good iron ore. But Australia did, and so was born a very rich relationship.

But as iron ore prices exploded upwards, tensions erupted between China and the big mining companies. And that led to a monumentally bad situation for everyone involved.

In this video, we are going to explore the tensions that would eventually lead to the Sino-Australian kerfuffle known as the Stern Hu affair.

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[Asianometry]

Thanks for watching. I know this is a sensitive subject. Please be civil and comment thoughtfully.

[iangarth]

A beautiful explanation. All I heard from Aussie media at the time was 'Labor is selling our country'. You laid out Chinese and Aussie grievances and interests clearly. Your channel is a gold mine, and something future historians should consult.

[Bloated_Tony_Danza]

Ironic, the original Rio Tinto was in Spain. Meaning “Paint River”, it formed on top of massive ore deposits and it’s mining history can be traced back over the last 5000 years. Because of its extensive, seemingly eternal mining history, Rio Tinto has so much iron and heavy metals dissolved into it’s acidic waters, that the river itself is various shades of bright orange, yellow, and red, it almost looks like a sunset on the earth, it’s unbelievable. So yeah, a mining company named Rio Tinto is actually quite clever!

[hlim]

Jon, you are doing GREAT work... I don't know anyone else examining iron ore cartels?
Much knowledge is required to even begin examining such issues. Well done. regards Horace

[TurtlelordGR]

Well researched, insightful and balanced.
Commodities are traditionally opaque, shady and mix business with power politics.
Excellent work navigating the subject and highlight the basics while not avoiding the controversial issues.
Well done.

[arpharazon]

Rio Tinto is a small brazilian city near my hometown, I was trying to understand by the title how the hell it was competing with China.

[ALAKAZOOVOLANT]

Having worked with RIO TINTO extensively, I wish more employees of them would be sent to jail in China.

[XGyfu]

idk, just found this channel and watching your videos is all i did since yeasterday. Really nice work, keep going!

[ivanlee]

You reporting is very objective. No good or bad players, only facts. Wish the mainstream media will do the same.

[TheChezmatt]

I know this is a big ask. But I think it’s time to step up your game with citations. Even if it takes you longer to produce videos. I think it’s really the next step for you. Keep at it! Great videos.

[SuperLeoang]

Iron ore is actually a monopoly rather than oligopoly. Each mine produces a different iron ore specification. For an optimum steel production productivity, you need to buy Ore from several players.

Finally Vale has been heavily involved in child labor and deforestation in Brazil. Vale fostered the construction of a pig iron complex in the heart of Brazilian forests. In an area with no natural coal, the native trees became the fuel to produce pig iron.

[ctedota]

Hey here in Serbia we fight against Rio Tinto lithium mining!

[kcobley]

There are a number of very large companies that mine Iron Ore in Australia in competition to Rio and BHP.
Newer Australian companies Fortescue, Hancock Mining have entered the market with large operations.
Large Japanese mining company ITOCHU Minerals and Energy of Australia has entered the market.

[anfangerm]

Instead of calling this a Chinese intervened business deals.
It is just sounds like a typical international business deal to me.
When the there is enough money in a critical business deal, a responsible government will intervene to make sure they are getting the best deal. No matter is the German government, French government or Canadian government.
It is just people are not use to seeing the Chinese in that position before.

[RenegadeRanga]

Rio backs out of a commercially unsound deal and then the Chinese frame up 4 dudes for it. Then Rio throws them under the bus and it's all business as usual after 2 years.

[jacobsmith-jjuf]

Hi, exploration geologist here who has worked for a large producer of iron ore.

We hold and keep tenements for the longevity of the company. Deposits are hard to find. So we try keep production consistent. When a minesite ends and is no longer economic, we start a new mine elsewhere.

The concept of mining every deposit available when found is bullish, and would require not only a lot of investment but would result in a huge crash for the company once the deposits are used up.

[tobuslieven]

13:56 Why did the CEO make such a stupid deal? Everyone else immediately saw it was no good.

[BenHanson]

Thank you for sharing you're knowledge and understanding. It is a complicated world, I appreciate the effort

[notnilc]

When I was attending a mining industry (only industry employing math majors) meetup in australia, the speakers said they didn't care if we left the company after they trained us.

[dickiesdocos]

Great analysis, I'm really impressed