The mining group wedged itself into a hole with the acquisition of Alcan, and Mr Leng and his colleagues-to-be have clashed on the best way out. With debt payments looming, the chairman-elect wanted the breathing space of a rights issue, reasoning that Rio's financial problems warranted a financial solution. Incumbent directors, by contrast, were keen on a big cash injection from state-owned Chinalco, Rio's largest shareholder.

They might also see an equity raising as an admission of defeat – as it would be. With each passing day, the decision to multiply Rio's debt almost 20-fold to buy Alcan in a negligible-synergy takeover looks more perverse. Until the $38bn blockbuster deal in 2007, Rio had been a conservative custodian of assets rather than a trader or acquirer of companies. Under Tom Albanese, elevated to chief executive earlier that year, “dig and deliver”, the old-school mining mantra, has now perforce become “dig and de-lever”.

Getting away a rights issue, while possibly painful to Mr Albanese's pride, would not be a problem. Rio's lenders would also rather Rio issue shares than further shrink its asset base. With free cash flow after dividends of around $6bn, and $1.6bn already in the tin from disposals, it would not need a lot to cover the $9bn of debt due in October. It would also buy time to confront the $10bn that comes due in 2010. The quid pro quo, though, might be the departure of Mr Albanese less than two years into his tenure. Fair enough; the blameless Mr Leng should not be the only one seeking new opportunities.