China Aluminum Co., the largest electrolytic aluminum producer in China, recently announced that its parent company China Aluminum Corporation has just signed a guarantee agreement with the Australian giant miner Rio Tinto for the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea in West Africa. Meanwhile, according to the company statement, China Aluminum Co. has also inked a counter-guarantee agreement for its parent company.
On July 27 this year, China Aluminum Co. reached an agreement with Australian miner Rio Tinto and Rio Tinto Iron Ore Atlantic Limited to jointly develop the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. According to the agreement, China Aluminum Co. would acquire 47 percent of the project's total shares with a consideration of $1.35 billion from Rio Tinto, which originally owned 95 percent of the project.