Rio Tinto, Mitsui, and Nippon Steel will invest $733m into the West Angelas Sustaining Project, which aims to develop new iron ore deposits.
The deposits, located in Western Australia, will help maintain the West Angelas hub’s annual production capacity of 35mt.
Rio Tinto’s iron ore chief executive, Matthew Holcz said: “"The West Angelas Sustaining Project is built on strong and committed partnerships, both with the joint venture members Mitsui and Nippon Steel, as well as the Yinhawangka and Ngarlawangga Peoples.
"The West Angelas hub has been an integral part of Rio Tinto Iron Ore since 2002. Securing these approvals ensures ongoing investment in the hub as we continue to supply high-quality, reliable iron ore to meet our global customers' demand now and into the future."
The project will utilise existing processing infrastructure and includes the construction of 22km of haul roads.
Around 600 jobs will be created during construction. Once operational the project will help sustain 950 full time equivalent roles at the West Angelas hub.
The project has received necessary State and Federal Government approvals, with the first ore scheduled for 2027.
