Jan. 2 (Bloomberg) -- ACC Rio Tinto Exploration Co., a unit of the world’s third-largest mining company, secured a so-called reconnaissance permit to find diamonds, gold, copper and zinc in India’s southern state of Andhra Pradesh.

The permit allows Rio Tinto Group to prospect in 8,350 square kilometers (3,224 square miles) over three areas in the Nalgonda region, the Ministry of Mines said in a statement on its Web site today.

A reconnaissance permit is granted for preliminary mineral prospecting using regional, aerial, geophysical or geochemical surveys and geological mapping, according to the Web site.

To contact the reporter on this story: Debarati Roy in Mumbai at droy5@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 2, 2009 02:01 EST