VOA标准英语2009-Anglo-Australian Mining Giant Rio Dumps Chin

Mining heavyweights Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton will combine their large Australian iron ore operations. It follows the collapse¹ of a controversial deal that would have seen the Chinese take an 18 percent stake in Rio Tinto, which is beset² with large debts.
　
In this undated picture provided by Rio Tinto, iron ore mining is seen in the Pibara region of Western Australia

For a company laden³ with nearly $40 billion in debt, Rio Tinto will find much-needed relief in its agreement with BHP Billiton.

BHP will hand over almost $6 billion to Rio, which will also issue new shares to raise money.

The iron ore producers will combine their efforts in Western Australia, sharing port and rail facilities.

The partnership⁴ was announced after the collapse of Rio Tinto's planned tie-up with China's state-owned aluminium⁵ company, Chinalco. It would have given Beijing valuable influence on the supply side of Australia's lucrative⁶ minerals industry. The proposal encountered strong political opposition⁷ in Australia.

Shareholders⁸ and politicians worried about foreigners having too much control over Australia's resources.

In a statement, Chinalco said it was "very disappointed" with the outcome.

But in Australia, conservative opposition lawmaker, Senator Barnaby Joyce, welcomes the new deal.

"It is great for the Australian people that this deal falls over and we do not have the complications of the Communist People's Republic of China government owning the wealth of Australia in the ground in Australia," he said.

The collapse of Rio's deal with the Chinese spares the Australian government the diplomatic headache of deciding whether to accept such a massive foreign investment into a key industry or to block it on national security grounds.

The joint⁹ Rio-BHP venture is likely to upset Chinese steel makers¹⁰. They often complain that the big Australian producers hold too much power over iron ore prices.

The stock market, though, has been enthusiastic about the agreement between the Anglo-Australian heavyweights.

Shares in both gained more than eight percent Friday.

Rio's chief executive Tom Albanese says the decision made "industrial logic," while his counterpart at BHP, Marius Kloppers, said the two miners had been looking to work together for more than a decade.

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 beset   

v.镶嵌；困扰，包围

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• The plan was beset with difficulties from the beginning.这项计划自开始就困难重重。

3 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

4 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

5 aluminium   

n.铝 (=aluminum)

参考例句：

• Aluminium looks heavy but actually it is very light.铝看起来很重，实际上却很轻。
• If necessary, we can use aluminium instead of steel.如果必要，我们可用铝代钢。

6 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》