Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-largest mining company, said it would like to work with state-owned firms such as Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), its biggest shareholder, to develop mining projects around the world.
Chief executive Tom Albanese, in an interview with the South China Morning Post, yesterday said there were plenty of opportunities for Rio Tinto to co-operate with state-owned enterprises on overseas investments to create new sources of minerals and energy for the world's fastest-growing key economy.
'Rio Tinto has been very successful in discovering some of the biggest new ore bodies in the world,' Mr Albanese said, while on a visit to Hong Kong. 'Many are in very remote locations that require a lot of infrastructure. We see opportunities for co-operative relationships with senior Chinese SOEs on large-scale development [of such mineral deposits].'
Rio Tinto is looking for state firms that can bring in capital or had access to infrastructure. Joint-venture partners could include Chinalco, which this year spent US$14 billion buying a 9 per cent stake in Rio Tinto with Alcoa of the United States.
Co-operation between Rio Tinto and state firms could help to bring world-class mineral resources to the market quicker, Mr Albanese said.
China, the world's fourth-largest economy, has recorded double-digit growth in the past five years, spurring huge demand for minerals and energy. The country is one of the world's largest consumers of commodities.