Here's the hitch... In January and February, I told you about Rio Tinto's (RTP:NYSE) search for cold, hard cash. I went into greater detail in the pages of Taipan Insider, our exclusive communique to Taipan Publishing Group's subscribers. I thought the most recent deal - the $19.5 billion deal that would give China's state-owned aluminum company Chinalco, a 50% stake in RTP's mining assets and $7.2 million in convertible bonds - was done and done. Not so... Australia announced it was extending its review of the Rio Tinto/Chinalco deal for a further 90 days. It's the same old song and dance, really. Chinalco is a state-owned business. Well, a Chinese state-owned business that's both a consumer and a competitor. Some investors are concerned that it would become involved in the business decisions of RTP. Chinalco will be given two "non-executive" seats on the company's board. Concerns are that the deal wouldn't be in the nation's interest. What this means is that now the deal, which could have been approved and completed in July, will be pushed back into the third quarter. That's not good for RTP, even though some analysts expected this delay. RTP needs to be able to pay $8.9 billion come October in connection with its 2007 purchase of Canada's Alcan. Looks like it's a footrace...