China May Lift Rio Stake, Prevent `Iron Ore Opec', Review Says

　　Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- China may seek to increase its stake in Rio Tinto Group to block BHP Billiton Ltd.'s hostile A$160 billion (141 billion) takeover attempt, the Australian Financial Review said, citing Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. founder Robert Friedland. 　　Aluminum Corp. of China, known as Chinalco, may increase its 9 percent stake in Rio Tinto to prevent BHP Billiton from creating an iron ore cartel similar to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Friedland said in an interview with the newspaper. 　　The merger of Rio Tinto and BHP creates an Opec,'' said Friedland. ``Opec controls about 41 percent of the world's oil production. You put BHP and Rio Tinto together and you have about that same concentration in iron ore.''