FACTBOX-Chinese companies expand mining overseas

Feb 1 (Reuters) - Chinese companies have been expanding overseas rapidly in search for mining resources to feed the country's growing economy.

In its latest move, Aluminum Corp of China (Chinalco), the world's third-biggest alumina producer and the nation's biggest aluminium and alumina supplier, has teamed up with U.S. company Alcoa (AA.N) to buy a 12 percent stake in Rio Tinto (RIO.L) (RIO.AX) for $14 billion, giving access to raw materials and threatening to thwart a potential bid by BHP Billiton (BLT.L) (BLT.L). [ID:nL01435125])

Following is a brief list of key overseas projects by China's top metals companies:

ALUMINIUM:

* Aluminum Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) signed a deal in May last year to invest $2.4 billion in Australia's Arukun alumina project. The plant will have an annual capacity of 2.1 million tonnes.

* Aluminium Corp of China Ltd (Chalco) agreed last year to co-build an 1-million-tonne-a-year aluminium smelter costing $3 billion in Saudi Arabia, together with Saudi Binladen Group.

* Chalco is also developing bauxite deposit in Brazil's Para state, together with Companio Vale do Rio Doce (Vale). It is to start operation early in 2009.

* Chalco is talking to Vietnam about major bauxite and alumina refining projects, which Hanoi says need about $15.6 billion.

* Minmetals bought a 51 percent stake in U.S.-based Sherwin Alumina in 2004. Minmetals also has a 30-year contract with Alcoa Inc. to receive 400,000 tonnes of alumina a year until 2027.

COPPER

* State-owned Minmetals Corp and Chile's state-owned Codelco signed a deal in May 2005 giving the Chinese company 55,000 tonnes of refined copper over the next 15 years, plus an option to buy 25 percent of Codelco's Gaby mine, which is slated to produce 150,000 tonnes a year of copper from 2008. An initial $550 million investment can be extended within a $2 billion framework.

* Jiangxi Copper Co Ltd (0358.HK) (600362.SS) said in December 2007 that it was setting up a joint venture with China Minmetals Nonferrous Metals Co Ltd to buy Canadian miner Northern Peru Copper Corp NOC.TO in a deal valued at C$455 million ($453 million).

* Jiangxi Copper and other member smelters in the China United Copper Co. Ltd. group could take a stake in an enlarged Saindak copper mine in Pakistan, where China's MCC Resources Development Co (Pvt) Ltd. has a lease to mine copper until 2012.