Rio Tinto Sees Opportunity To Work With Chinalco

LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Rio Tinto PLC (RTP) Chairman Paul Skinner Wednesday said there are opportunities for his company to work with Aluminum Corp. of China, the state-owned company that recently became Rio Tinto’s biggest shareholder.

"It is clear there are opportunities for us to work together. We are still in the foothills of that discussion," Skinner said at a press conference.

Chinalco and U.S. aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. (AA) earlier this month teamed up to buy a $14.5 billion stake in Rio Tinto, about 12% of its London-listed shares.

Skinner said that since the Chinalco and Rio Tinto have only met only once briefly and "we aren’t down to any sort of specifics."

But the companies have brushed against each other in the past and discussed possible ways to work together, he said.

"We know Chinalco quite well," Skinner said. "In the normal run of business we have seen quite a lot of them."