Chalco's denial of its alleged pull out of the deal to set up a bauxite refinery at Aurukun in North Queensland over the resources super tax may be more than posturing. The viability of the project has been doubted for more than 12 months within the company.
Aurukun, North Queensland, AustraliaThe Chinese mining giant, Chalco's parent company Chinalco made an unsuccessful bid for a larger part of Rio Tinto last year. Chinalco still harbors misgivings about the wisdom of such a large investment in the Australian environment.
Chalco overseas investment general manager Zhao Zhengang has tried to clarify that the company is moving ahead with the project in accordance to the agreement with the state government in Queensland. Although there are many fears that the new mining tax may force the company to stall the $3 billion bauxite project, so far the company is in denial.
Chalco is China's largest alumina and primary aluminum producer and the world's second largest alumina producer. Chinalco is the controlling shareholder of the company.