Rio Tinto PLC (LON:RIO) and its joint venture partners are to pump US$1.55bn into two ageing mines in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.
In conjunction with Mitsui and Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal, Rio, which has a 53% stake in the joint venture, will invest to develop the Mesa B, C and H deposits at Robe Valley, and deposits C and D at the existing West Angelas operation.
Rio Tinto nod for $2.15b Robe Valley, West Angelas investment to create 1200 jobs https://t.co/0rl8odJjUF
— Faye Longmuir (@FayeLongmuir) October 1, 2018
These investments enable Rio Tinto to sustain production of the Pilbara Blend, the world's most recognised brand of iron ore, and its Robe Valley lump and fines products, which are highly valued by long-term customers.
READ: Rio Tinto sees mammoth US$7.2bn in shareholder returns fail to offset slightly disappointing first-half results
According to Chris Salisbury, the chief executive of Rio’s iron ore business, “the development at West Angelas will help sustain production of the Pilbara Blend, the industry’s benchmark premium iron ore product, while the additional Robe Valley deposits will enable us to continue to provide a highly valued product to our long-term customers across Asia”.
“The approval of these two projects highlights the strong pipeline of development options within our portfolio as we remain focused on our value-over-volume strategy," he added.
Rio’s shares were up 2p at 3,882p.
Pilbara mine investment to create thousands of jobs
About 1200 new Pilbara construction jobs are expected after Rio Tinto and its Robe River joint-venture partners announced a $US1.55...https://t.co/MdMZTzWB41 pic.twitter.com/0twpMsn3Na
— realworldnews.net (@RealworldnewsN) October 1, 2018