Rio Tinto (RIO.AX), the mining giant with a minority interest in a huge, undeveloped copper-gold deposit in Mongolia, is likely to be at the front of a long line of potential bidders should its partner, Ivanhoe Mines (IVN.TO), put itself up for sale.
Ivanhoe -- which owns one of the world's biggest copper lodes, the Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia -- said on Wednesday it had hired bankers to consider ways to boost the group's value, sparking speculation that the $6.8 billion company could be up for sale.