SouthGobi seeks funds to make interest payment

Reuters - UK Focus

Nov 20 (Reuters) - Coal miner SouthGobi Resources Ltd said it had missed an interest payment on a $250 million loan owed to China's sovereign wealth fund and is looking to raise funds to avoid a default next month.

The miner, which has $4.9 million in cash, said China Investment Corp had extended the deadline for the $8.1 million payment to Dec. 1 from Nov. 19.

SouthGobi, controlled by Rio Tinto Plc (LSE: RIO.L - news) through Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (Toronto: IVN.TO - news) , said failure to make the payment could trigger "voluntary or involuntary proceedings involving the company".

SouthGobi had originally issued CIC $500 million in convertible debentures in 2009 and a year later the Chinese firm converted half of that into equity.

CIC currently has a stake of 16.5 percent stake in the company. (Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore; Editing by Savio D'Souza)