Aluminum Corp. of China (ACH), also known as Chinalco, is willing to open discussions with Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto Plc (RTP) for cooperation in bauxite and alumina production, Chinalco's vice president Lu Youqing told Dow Jones Newswires Monday.

Lu was responding to comments by Rio Tinto's chief financial officer Guy Elliott, reported by the Australian Financial Review Monday, that the miner is in very early stages of talks with Chinalco on a possible bauxite and alumina deal.

"We've indicated that we're willing to talk, but I know of no other details to share for now," Lu said.

Elliott told analysts the talks have only just started and are a long way from materializing, the Australian Financial Review said.

Reached Monday, a Rio Tinto spokeswoman declined to comment.

The indications from both sides of renewed talks signal a thaw in relations after Rio Tinto abandoned a $19.5 billion alliance with Chinalco earlier this year, turning instead to a sizable equity raising to ease its debt burden. Even after Rio Tinto employees were accused by the Chinese government of bribery and commercial espionage in relation to annual iron ore price talks, Chinalco had also taken pains to distance itself from the affair, publicly saying that the Rio case wasn't linked to the failed Rio-Chinalco deal.

Chinalco is still Rio Tinto's largest shareholder, with a 9.3% stake, and the two companies hold adjacent bauxite deposits in the Australian state of Queensland. They have held talks on possible cooperation there in recent years.

Bauxite is an ore used to manufacture aluminum. Alumina is an oxide of aluminum, largely used to bolster the light metal's resistance to weathering.

-By Chuin-Wei Yap, Dow Jones Newswires; 8610 6588 5848; chuin-wei.yap@dowjones.com