Rio Tinto Alcan will review a $10.6-billion aluminium joint venture with Saudi firm Maaden as it reviews other projects in the wake of the global financial crisis, its chief executive said.

“We are looking at the technical and financial feasibility of all our projects, this is not unique to Maaden,” Dick Evans told Reuters at an industry conference in Dubai.
“The current global financial markets merits a pause to re-look at the long-term planning for these projects to see how we can optimise them,” Evans said.
Another report said the project could be delayed by one or two years.
“The board will decide within three weeks or before the end of this year at the latest if we should go for a one-year delay or two years,” a Khobar-based executive overseeing Maaden’s aluminium project told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
Another source working on the 740,000 tonnes per year smelter said the project would be delayed for at least a year, adding that Rio Tinto is considering pulling out of the project and that Maaden would still push the project through with or without its partner.