Rio Tinto reportedly plans to restructure its Australian operations and foremost to the new strategy is the divestiture of the global miner's aluminum assets.

According to a Monday report by the Australian Financial Review, the impending spin offs were mostly in preparation for the carbon pricing that the Labor-led government of Prime Minister Julia Gillard is set to introduce soon.

Once the carbon tax is in place, Rio Tinto officials are projecting that mining costs would eventually shoot up while margins to be realised would diminish, making the possible sale of non-core operations highly attractive.

Reuters has reported that Rio Tinto chief financial officer Guy Elliott hinted last week of the likely consolidation of the company's domestic business operations in the event that Ms Gillard's new tax proposal will be implemented soon.

Clearly one of the first to go is Rio Tinto's aluminum assets, which Elliot characterised as "not aligned with the mining firm's strategy."

"These are assets that we would consider divesting if it makes sense. Of course, we would want to achieve good value if we decided to sell them," Elliot was quoted by Reuters as saying during a conference with company shareholders.

If the plan pushes through, Rio Tinto intends to divest only the aluminum processing division, according to the Australian Financial Review report, as the company explains that the higher profit margins offered by its aluminum mining make it a bit harder to give up that part of the operation.

Elliot assured invertors that once the new aluminum blueprint is implemented, Rio Tinto is projected to post some 40 percent in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin from the aluminum business.

He, however, refused to identify the specific assets that the company plans to sell, allowing only that two operations are up for grabs soon.

"Through the divestment of non-core assets, together with aggressive targets for cost reduction and production creep, plus targeted investment in growth, we are confident that the aluminum business will achieve a 40 percent EBITDA margin," Elliot declared.