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LONDON. — Mining company Rio Tinto PLC yesterday said it was under investigation by the US Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) over an impairment it booked in 2012 against its operations in Mozambique.Rio said it was co-operating with the SEC’s probe, which it said started in 2013, but that it would be “inappropriate to comment further at this time” because the investigation is ongoing.

The company was responding to media reports published earlier this week that the SEC was examining the timing of $3 billion of impairment charges it booked on a Mozambique coal deal.

Rio acquired Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique in 2011 through its $3,7 billion takeover of Riversdale Mining Ltd., as coal prices were rocketing on ballooning demand from Asia and supply disruptions in major coal-producing countries.

Coal prices then fell as new mines planned during the boom moved into production.

Rio sold the Mozambique business in 2014 to an Indian investment group for $50 million a year after taking the hefty write-down, which is under investigation, after building the required infrastructure proved more challenging than originally expected.

News of the SEC investigation comes as the company grapples with a separate internal investigation of payments made to a consultant who helped it acquire mining rights in Guinea.

The findings of the probe prompted the company last month to fire one of its most senior operational executives and its head of legal and regulatory. – wsj.