Chinalco says Rio Tinto stake safe

State-backed Aluminium Corp of China (Chinalco) has scotched speculation that the ownership of its stake in Rio Tinto Ltd, held by failed investment bank Lehman Brothers, is in doubt. Chinalco said overnight that the Rio Tinto shares are held in a separate designated account under a custody arrangement with Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE). "There is no basis on which Chinalco's ownership of the shares could be validly challenged or on which its shares could form part of the general assets of LBIE," Chinalco said in a statement. Chinalco and US aluminium producer Alcoa Inc teamed up in February to secure a 12 per cent stake in Rio Tinto's UK shares - or nine per cent of the dual-listed group - for $US14 billion ($A20.2 billion). Reports suggested that the interest in Rio Tinto - held in a custodial account in Hong Kong - had been frozen by Lehman Brothers' liquidators and that Chinese officials were pressuring the Hong Kong government to hand over the stake. "Chinalco is discussing with the administrators of LBIE in London the arrangements for the orderly transfer of the shares out of LBIE," the company said. The share raid by the Chinalco-led consortium has been interpreted as an attempt to block BHP Billiton Ltd's proposed $US90 billion ($A129.89 billion) all-scrip takeover of Rio Tinto. The consortium, however, has long touted the investment in Rio Tinto as strategic. Source: AAP