Miners suffer on China slowdown fears and Aussie tax

Mining stocks slumped in afternoon trading as Rio Tinto said it has seen slowing demand from China, its best customer, while Australia implemented a controversial mining tax.

Rio Tinto Group, the world's second- largest iron ore exporter, said at a conference in Perth it is seeing a slowdown in China, Bloomberg reports. "The rate of GDP growth in China is more immediately slowing," said Rio's David Joyce, managing director of expansion projects. "We remain confident on the basis of the figures we have seen, of a soft landing, with solid growth for this year." Meanwhile Australia confirmed it will impose its long-awaited 30% tax on iron ore and coal mining companies from 1 July. It aims to raise A$10.6bn (£7bn) over three years from major mining companies, ...