INTERVIEW-Guinea mines minister says will talk to RUSAL

CONAKRY, Mar 1 (Reuters) - Guinea's new government is prepared to talk with UC RUSAL  to resolve a dispute over the Russian group's ownership of the Friguia alumina refinery, Guinean Mines Minister Mahmoud Thiam told Reuters.

Security of title is a major worry for companies operating in Guinea, the world's biggest bauxite supplier, which was shaken by a coup in December 2008 and has a transitional government tasked with setting elections.

A Guinean court last year ruled RUSAL bought Friguia, the biggest industrial project in Guinea, illegally in 2006, vastly underpaying for the factory, but RUSAL did not accept the decision.

"We have decided to sit down at the negotiating table," said Thiam, who was reappointed to the mines ministry last month after authorities named members of Prime Minister Jean-Marie Dore's new government. "Things will be simple when we talk."

Talks were slated to begin on Monday, but Guinea had yet to choose its representatives, Thiam said.

"If they say that they don't need to do anything, they have to prove it. If they recognise that they must do something for us, they must pay. The terms of payment can be discussed at that point," he said.

Last year, Thiam said figures seen by the government indicated Friguia was sold for around $20 million, far below independent valuations of $250 million.

RUSAL, which listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in February, said on Monday the latest development was its announcement on Feb. 19 that it had agreed to create a joint body with Guinea's new government to settle the dispute.

"Since the September judgment, they have refused to make a decision based on that because they say the tribunal in Conakry was acting outside its authority," Thiam said.

"We asked them to take it to an international tribunal but they didn't do that either, so we've invited them to the negotiating table," he said.

Friguia employs more than 1,000 people and has capacity to refine enough bauxite to produce 640,000 tonnes of alumina per year.

Shares in RUSAL have fallen sharply since its listing, largely on worries over its debt and uncertainties surrounding its chief executive and major shareholder Oleg Deripaska.

(Writing by Daniel Magnowski; Editing by David Holmes)