Dec. 6, 2010 （China Knowledge） - Aluminum Corp of China, which is the country's largest nonferrous metal producer and is also known as Chinalco, and Australian mining company Rio Tinto on Friday signed an agreement to set up a joint venture to explore minerals in China, the state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported.
According to the report, the JV, which will have A$10 million investment in the first stage, is expected to start operation in the first half of next year. Chinalco will hold a 51% stake in the JV, while Rio Tinto will take the remaining 49% stake.
The JV will focus on exploring copper and coke minerals in North and Northeast China.
In July, Chinalco and Rio Tinto agreed to jointly develop the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, one of the most mineral and metal-rich countries in Africa.
Last year, Rio Tinto scraped Chinalco's US$19.5 billion worth of proposal to increase shareholdings in the Australian mining firm.
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