SEVEROURALSK, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - The workers at a Urals mine owned by Russia's aluminum giant RusAl have stopped a hunger strike they had gone on almost a week ago to demand higher wages.

RusAl said Friday it has reopened the bauxite mine in the Sverdlovsk Region, where workers have been on strike since late March.

On March 26, some 100 workers refused to leave the mine, called Krasnaya Shapochka (Little Red Riding Hood) demanding a raise. The miners were holding talks with employers and trade union representatives. On April 13, a total of 75 miners declared a hunger strike.

A RusAl spokesman said Friday following a mine inspection about 600 miners had decided to return to work.

UC RusAl, controlled by Basic Element, owned by Russia's richest man, Oleg Deripaska, became the world's largest aluminum producer after a March 2007 merger between RusAl, rival Sual and Swiss Glencore's alumina assets.