Vietnam Permits Alcoa To Take 40% Stake In Alumina JV 

HANOI (Dow Jones)-Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has agreed to allow the country’s largest mining firm Vinacomin to offer Alcoa Inc. (AA) a 40% stake in a joint venture to produce 600,000 metric tons of alumina a year from the central region, the government said Tuesday on its Web site.

Alumina is the raw material used in aluminum production.

The prime minister has permitted Vinacomin to hold a 51% stake in the joint venture and offer 9% to other domestic investors, the government said.

"Vinacomin should start the project early," it added.

The government also said the alumina joint venture will net it a 10% royalty on net profit each year.

To help speed up alumina production in the central region, which has an estimated 5.5 billion tons of bauxite ore, the government has also allowed Vinacomin to offer a 20% stake in another alumina joint venture to China’s Yunnan Metallurgy Group.

It didn’t give details about the second joint venture.