Rusal eyes Chalco's stalled Aurukun bauxite project: report

Russian aluminum major Rusal has expressed interest in taking over the
stalled Aurukun bauxite project in the Australian state of Queensland,
according to a local media report.

     Rusal executives initiated talks with the Queensland state government's
Natural Resources Minister Stephen Robertson on August 25, a month after the
Aluminum Corporation of China or Chalco ended its talks with the state
government over the project, The Weekend Australian reported.

     Chalco was granted permits in 2007 to develop a world scale bauxite mine
near the  town of Aurukun in the remote western Cape York region of the state,
where reserves were considered sufficient to support production at 6.5 million
mt/year of dry beneficated bauxite.

     As part of the permit conditions, it agreed to build a 3.3 million
mt/year alumina refinery at Abbot Point, south of Townsville in the state's
northeast, and bauxite-loading port facilities north of Aurukun to link the
two.

     But Chalco and the government agreed to terminate the talks in July,
citing deteriorating global conditions in the aluminum industry and a 30%
decline in global aluminum prices in the three years since the agreement was
signed.

     French company Pechiney had been given the right to develop a bauxite
mine at Aurukun in 1975, but the state government reclaimed the concessions in
2004 after Pechiney was taken over by Alcan, which itself was later taken over
by Rio Tinto, The Australian reported.

     Rusal has a 20% interest in Queensland Alumina Limited or QAL's 3.95
million mt/year alumina refinery in Gladstone in Queensland alongside Rio
Tinto Alcan, 80%.

--Wendy Wells, newsdesk@platts.com

Copyright and Exemption Declaration :¢ÙAll articles, pictures and videos that are marked with "China Aluminum Network" on this website are copyright and belong to China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn). When transshipment, any media, website or individual must list the source from "China Aluminium Network (www.alu.com.cn)". We seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÚArticles that marked as copy from others are for transferring more information to readers, do not represent or endorse their opinions or accuracy and reliability. When other media, website or individuals copy from our website, must keep the source. Anyone that changes the articles' sources will hold the responsibilities for copyright and law problems. We also seek legal actions against anyone that disobey this. ¢ÛIf any articles copied by our website concern the copyright and other problems, please contact us within one week.