By Nicholas Earl Rio Tinto has suffered a 29 per cent drop in profits during the first six months of trading this year, amid weaker prices for iron ore as demand eased from top consumer China. The drop in earnings has caused the multinational miner to slash its dividend in half, with the company also weighed down by higher costs driven by inflation and skilled labour shortages. The company also cut its capital investment forecast for 2022 by $500m to $7.5bn. While Rio Tinto has paid out $2.67 per share to investors, its second-highest interim pay-out ever. this is only half the record pay-out …