Chinalco Denies Role in Rio Employee Arrest, Herald Reports

July 10 (Bloomberg) -- Aluminum Corp. of China denied any connection with the Shanghai State Security Bureau’s investigation into Rio Tinto Group’s iron ore chief in China, Stern Hu, and three Chinese nationals, the Sydney Morning Herald said, citing vice-president Lu Youqing. The China Iron & Steel Association also denied any involvement in Hu’s arrest and detention, the newspaper said on its Web site, citing unidentified people at the association. “Rio Tinto has no business credibility as a company,” the paper cited Lu as saying. Aluminum Corp. is known as Chinalco. Rio Tinto spokesman Ian Head couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. Rio Tinto last month spurned a planned $19.5 billion investment by Chinalco, its biggest shareholder, four months after agreeing to it, following opposition from shareholders and politicians in Australia.