On Jan. 28, I told you that mining major Rio Tinto (RTP:NYSE) was in dire need of cash... It needs to pay an $8.9 billion bill by October 2009. Well, RTP may have found its Knight in Shining Armor, and it's not long-time rival BHP Billiton (BHP:NYSE). Rather, it's state-owned Aluminum Corp. of China... or Chinalco. Chinalco already owns 9% of the company, but the two are in talks to buy about $20 billion in assets. Here's how it would work, as reported by the International Herald Tribune... "Aluminum Corp. of China, known as Chinalco, would buy bonds convertible into Rio Tinto stock and acquire up to half of some of Rio's mines." The deal is expected to be announced as early as tomorrow, as RTP releases its full-year earnings. Remember, RTP is looking to offset the massive investment it made in Canada's Alcan. It went $39 billion in debt to do the deal, and $8.9 billion is due to be paid in October. With metals prices in the dumps, and the currenct economic situation, RTP is scrambling for cash. Because Chinalco is state-owned, it's got deeper pockets than many of its competitors. But that also means that if Chinalco acquires a big enough stake, China would - in effect - have "veto" power over any big decisions, like takeover bids. Like the one BHP put in last November... BHP has since dropped its bid because of the global financial crisis, but if it decides to renew its bid when metals prices begin climbing again, it might face some difficult opposition.