RIO Rio Tinto Limited

LONDON--U.K. property company Harworth Group PLC (HWG.LN) Thursday said it acquired the site of the former Lynemouth aluminium smelter near Newcastle-upon-Tyne from Rio Tinto PLC (RIO.LN), saying the 320-acre site "offers the potential for a range of future commercial development".

"Our marketing of the site attracted a great deal of interest from a wide range of sectors," said Richard Anderson, Environment Manager at Rio Tinto. "After lengthy consideration and due diligence, we decided the offer from Harworth Estates gave the best prospect of securing sustainable long-term employment on the site given their exceptional track record of successfully regenerating redundant industrial sites."

Financial details weren't disclosed.

Write to Ed Ballard at ed.ballard@wsj.com

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