Trafigura seeks to oust EMED board in fight over Rio Tinto mine

(Adds EMED statement)

Oct 15 (Reuters) - Commodities trader Trafigura, top shareholder in London-listed EMED Mining, is seeking investor support to oust all of the firm's board directors but one in the latest twist in a battle over Spain's Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) copper mine.

The trader in raw materials and rival investor in Spanish mining, seeking to tighten control over the owner of the Rio Tinto mine, said on Wednesday it had asked the EMED board to call a shareholder meeting in order to "bring about much-needed change".

Trafigura has a stake of just over 18 percent in EMED, but it will need to get support adding up to a majority of shareholders for its board overhaul plan to go through.

The trader, which could reap synergies if it integrated its own operation with the Rio Tinto mine, declined to comment on Wednesday on the support it has already secured in its bid.

The only director it is supporting for reelection is Harry Liu, the nominee for EMED's second-largest shareholder, Yanggu Xiangguang Copper.

"Trafigura is taking this step because it believes the current EMED board is failing to serve the interests of shareholders and that the company as currently constituted does not have the financial resources or management capabilities to restart the Rio Tinto mine near Seville, Spain - which is EMED's primary goal," the trader said in a statement.

EMED confirmed it had received Trafigura's request for a shareholder meeting and was considering it. But it also said it continued to make "significant progress" in its efforts to bring the Spanish mine back into production.

It expects the final mining permit to be granted before the end of the year.

EMED and Trafigura - which owns the nearby Minas de Aguas Tenidas operation in Spain's southwest - have long been at loggerheads over Rio Tinto, the copper mine which gave its name to the firm that became conglomerate Rio Tinto .

Mining giant Rio sold its majority stake in the Rio Tinto copper mine in the 1950s, and the remainder in later years. It was mothballed in 2001, when copper prices sank, until EMED took an option over the project and, later, ownership.

EMED has since battled to secure the permits and licences necessary to restart production.

Trafigura's operation, known as MATSA, is the only producing mine in Spain's Huelva province. (Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; editing by Susan Thomas and Jason Neely)