(Adds EMED statement)
Oct 15 (Reuters) - Commodities trader Trafigura,top shareholder in London-listed EMED Mining, isseeking investor support to oust all of the firm's boarddirectors but one in the latest twist in a battle over Spain'sRio Tinto copper mine.
The trader in raw materials and rival investor in Spanishmining, seeking to tighten control over the owner of the RioTinto mine, said on Wednesday it had asked the EMED board tocall a shareholder meeting in order to "bring about much-neededchange".
Trafigura has a stake of just over 18 percent in EMED, butit will need to get support adding up to a majority ofshareholders for its board overhaul plan to go through.
The trader, which could reap synergies if it integrated itsown operation with the Rio Tinto mine, declined to comment onWednesday on the support it has already secured in its bid.
The only director it is supporting for reelection is HarryLiu, the nominee for EMED's second-largest shareholder, YangguXiangguang Copper.
"Trafigura is taking this step because it believes thecurrent EMED board is failing to serve the interests ofshareholders and that the company as currently constituted doesnot have the financial resources or management capabilities torestart the Rio Tinto mine near Seville, Spain - which is EMED'sprimary goal," the trader said in a statement.
EMED confirmed it had received Trafigura's request for ashareholder meeting and was considering it. But it also said itcontinued to make "significant progress" in its efforts to bringthe Spanish mine back into production.
It expects the final mining permit to be granted before theend of the year.
EMED and Trafigura - which owns the nearby Minas de AguasTenidas operation in Spain's southwest - have long been atloggerheads over Rio Tinto, the copper mine which gave its nameto the firm that became conglomerate Rio Tinto .
Mining giant Rio sold its majority stake in the Rio Tintocopper mine in the 1950s, and the remainder in later years. Itwas mothballed in 2001, when copper prices sank, until EMED tookan option over the project and, later, ownership.
EMED has since battled to secure the permits and licencesnecessary to restart production.
Trafigura's operation, known as MATSA, is the only producingmine in Spain's Huelva province. (Reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; editing by Susan Thomasand Jason Neely)
