Rio Tinto in Talks on Mining Projects in China's Xinjiang - Government

BEIJING--Global miner Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) is in talks with China's resource-rich Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region on cooperation in mining projects, the Xinjiang government said Friday.

In a statement, the government didn't specify the company's immediate interest in the region, which holds a wide array of mining resources including metals, potash, coal and oil.

An executive of Aluminum Corp. of China Ltd. (ACH), Rio Tinto's largest shareholder, said last November that its joint venture with Rio Tinto was looking for copper in China, though no promising deposits were mentioned at the time.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Tom Albanese met Xinjiang's top Communist Party official Zhang Chunxian Thursday, according to the statement. The company had no immediate comment on the statement.