https://www.miningweekly.com

Rio Tinto inks exploration agreement with China's Minmetals

7th June 2018

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

BENGALURU – Global miner Rio Tinto inked a joint venture agreement with China Minmetals Corp on Thursday, as the companies look to explore mineral deposits in China.

The 50:50 joint venture with State-owned Minmetals follows a technical agreement signed in November when both parties committed to a collaborative partnership in mineral exploration.

Major miners have been seeking ways to maximise exploration budgets and have also been analysing the sustainability of their portfolios in light of the changing needs of China, the world's biggest commodity consumer, as its economy matures.

"The formalisation of the exploration joint venture is an important milestone in our growing partnership with China and Minmetals, who is an increasingly important player in the global mining industry," said Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques.

The registered capital of the venture will be $31.3-million, with initial contributions of $5.5-million by each of the companies within six months of establishment of the venture, Rio Tinto said.

"The immediate priority for the joint venture will be mineral targets in China," the company said, adding the future collaboration of the parties would expand to exploration of global resources.

Rio Tinto, the world's second-biggest listed miner by market capitalisation, and No. 1 BHP , are particularly dependent on iron ore, as a bulk commodity with high profit margins.

Minmetals, one of China's biggest metals firms, mostly produces copper, zinc and nickel, but also holds reserves of steelmaking raw material iron ore.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION