International mining group Rio Tinto has put the development of its Coega smelter, situated near Port Elizabeth, on hold, it said on Thursday.

"We're aligning the timing of the development of the smelter with the energy needs of South Africa, " spokesperson Robert Valdmanis said.

However, the company remained committed to the development of the project, he said.

Rio Tinto had established a task team consisting of itself, Eskom and government, Valdmanis said.

The work of the team had been "constructive" and "encouraging".

The team had been required to concentrate on the conditions for developing the smelter, and not the time frame.

"It's not unusual for a project of this size to go into an interim phase," Valdmanis said.

On hold for three to four years

Asked about CEO Dick Evans' reported comments on Thursday in London that the Coega smelter had been put on hold for three to four years, Valdmanis said this was "an educated guess," but it was not set in stone.

"It's our preliminary view, based on the findings of the task team."

Valdmanis said Rio Tinto would leave its corporate social responsibility programme in place.

"We will continue to establish relationships with the local community and we hope these relationships last for years."

The company's commercial director would remain in Johannesburg, he said.

"We're a company that believes in sustainability – we couldn't put demands on SA's power system at present," he said.

In March Rio Tinto announced that it was in discussions with the government regarding the timing of the Coega smelter project.

"We are committed to working closely with the South African government to assist in mitigating the current energy crisis, while maintaining the option for future long term development of the Port Elizabeth region," Evans said at the time.

Sapa