Rio Tinto has confirmed that Mitsui & Co. has entered agreements to acquire a 40 per cent interest in the Rhodes Ridge joint venture (RRJV), further strengthening its partnership with the global mining giant.
Mitsui will acquire a 25 per cent interest from VOC Group and has signed a heads of agreement to acquire the additional 15 per cent stake from AMB Holdings. This represents Mitsui’s largest-ever single investment.
“Rio Tinto welcomes Mitsui & Co. to Rhodes Ridge and looks forward to progressing the project,” Rio Tinto said. “Rio Tinto’s interest in the RRJV and the terms of the joint venture arrangements are unchanged.”
Mitsui and Rio Tinto are long-standing partners, having collaborated for decades on the Robe River joint venture near Pannawonica, where operations began in 1972.
A pre-feasibility study for Rhodes Ridge is expected to be completed later this year, with a feasibility study to follow. The mine’s initial capacity is 40 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of iron ore production, with potential to scale to 100Mtpa.
The development will leverage Rio Tinto’s rail, port, and power infrastructure, with first ore from the mine anticipated by 2030. Rhodes Ridge will look to save on costs by using existing infrastructure between Rhodes Ridge and the Robe River project.
Mined ore from Rhodes Ridge is set to be blended with other ore sold by Rio Tinto and exported to Asian markets.
“Based on confirmed figures alone, the project has 6.8 billion tonnes of mineral resources, making it one of the largest undeveloped deposits in the world,” Mitsui president and chief executive Kenichi Hori said.
“Rhodes Ridge is located in Western Australia, a region where we have been engaged in mining development since the 1960s, and where we hold the most expertise in relation to the iron ore business.”
In other news, Rio Tinto has also released its half-year results, with a 11 per cent lower iron ore price leading to an underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of $23.3 billion. This is only two per cent lower than the prior corresponding period.
Operating activities generated three per cent higher net cash of $15.6 billion, driven by Rio’s portfolio and effective working capital management.
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