Reuters reported that Aluminium producer RUSAL has won a stage in an ongoing legal battle with Guinea over ownership of the Friguia alumina refinery in the West African country.

The Guinean appeal court overturned a ruling by a lower court last September that said RUSAL bought Friguia illegally in 2006, vastly underpaying for Guinea's largest industrial project. Guinea can in turn appeal against this latest decision.

Since the September ruling, the 2 sides have said that they would negotiate, a move seen as paving the way for RUSAL to carry on running the plant, which can produce 640,000 tonnes of aluminium feedstock alumina per year, and is a major employer in the poor country.

The firm said in a statement that RUSAL views this decision as providing a favorable step toward expanding the long term and mutually beneficial cooperation between RUSAL and the Republic of Guinea.

Mr Mahmoud Thiam mines minister of Guinea said that It's a separate procedure from our campaign to get what is due to us financially.

Mr Thiam was reappointed to head the mines ministry last month when authorities named a transitional government which is intended to usher the country, whose income depends on mineral exports, to democratic elections. That vote, scheduled for June is intended to end a political crisis that has persisted since a December 2008 military coup in the world's biggest bauxite exporter.

(Sourced from Reuters)