Chinalco gets the Rio nod

Aluminum Corp of China, or Chinalco, has got Australian approval to raise to 11 percent its stake in Rio Tinto Group, the target of a hostile $143 billion takeover by rival miner BHP Billiton Ltd.

"I have decided to raise no objections under Australia's foreign investment policy," Wayne Swan, federal treasurer of Australia, said yesterday in a statement.

Chinalco, in partnership with Alcoa Inc, bought a 9 percent stake in London-based Rio in February and said in March it might seek to increase that holding.