Rio Tinto Alcan may soon see an infusion of cash for Canadian projects

Rio Tinto Alcan may soon see an infusion of investments that could further its stalled projects in Quebec and British Columbia.

The chief financial officer of Alcan's parent, global mining giant Rio Tinto, said the company's first substantial capital spending on Alcan since its acquisition of aluminum producer in 2007 was "on the horizon."

Guy Elliott made his comments in Australia on Monday to The Australian newspaper.

Montreal-based Rio Tinto Alcan is to make a media announcement Tuesday. Details were not forthcoming.

In October, Rio Tinto Alcan CEO Jacynthe C?té said her division was in the process of determining if it will ramp up investments in key Canadian projects including a prototype smelter in the Saguenay region.

The plant features AP50 technology which is expected to improve productivity by 40 per cent.

At the end of 2008, amid plummeting commodity prices, parent Rio Tinto slashed capital commitments across its mining empire and slowed the pace of key Rio Tinto Alcan projects in B.C. and the Saguenay region, notably the prototype smelter.

Elliott also told The Australian newspaper that some aluminum smelters and refineries could be sold.

"We have to look critically at some of the assets - smaller, older assets that exist in the portfolio that maybe don't have much upside in terms of expansibility or extension of life," The Australian quoted Elliott as saying in a report published on Monday.He did not put a value on the assets for sale but said they were all generating cash."We'd like to sell them at good prices if we do sell them - that means we need the climate to improve a little bit." Rio Tinto has completed divestments in excess of $10 billion U.S. since the beginning of 2008, including sales of $3.6 billion U.S. of chiefly Alcan assets in 2010.With file from Reuters.