Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Maaden) said on Tuesday an aluminium venture it is developing with Rio Tinto was delayed.

Maaden chief executive Abdullah Dabbagh did not immediately give a new timeframe, but said the project had been hit by the current financial situation.

The project involves building a 1,400 megawatt oil fired plant, an aluminium refinery with a capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per year and an aluminium smelter with capacity of 720,000 per tonnes year.-Reuters