Minmetals, Rio Tinto in JV for mineral exploration

China Minmetals Corporation, China's biggest metal ore mining company, signed an agreement on June 7 with Australian-British miner Rio Tinto to establish a 50:50 joint venture for mineral exploration, a Minmetals official confirmed on Friday.

China Minmetals Corporation, China's biggest metal ore mining company, signed an agreement on June 7 with Australian-British miner Rio Tinto to establish a 50:50 joint venture for mineral exploration, a Minmetals official confirmed on Friday.

The pact is the latest example of deepening cooperation between the two global mining giants, Mysteel understands. The two sides have been in discussions on the project for over a year, signing a memorandum of understanding in March 2017, followed by a framework agreement signed two months later and a Technical Collaboration Contract signed last November, posts of Minmetals showed.

The primary focus of the new joint venture will be the mineral targets in China that are identified under the Technical Collaboration Contract, Rio explained in a statement, with the scope subsequently broadened to the exploration of global resources.

The registered capital of the JV will be Yuan 200 million ($31.3 million). Each side will contribute Yuan 35 million within approximately six months of its establishment whereas the remaining contribution will be subject to unanimous approval of the two parties and linked to agreed target areas, Rio Tinto said.

Officials from both sides interviewed by Mysteel were unable to provide further details, saying that the joint venture is still at a preliminary stage.

The agreement to establish the joint venture means that Minmetals moves one step closer to its goal of developing into a "world-class metal ore mining group". Earlier in May, Minmetals established an investment fund for the exploration of new energy materials, for example, battery materials that can be used in new energy vehicles. It is now operating a nickel ore mine in Papua New Guinea and is accelerating the construction of domestic projects for Li (NiCoNn) O2, battery cathode material and lithium.

China Minmetals Corporation, a mega-corporation established through the combination of the former China Minmetals and the Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC), is the only state-owned metal mining enterprise in China. It owns high-quality mines at home and in Australia, South America, Africa and other parts of Asia that have world's biggest reserves of copper, zinc and nickel, it says.

Written by Olivia Zhang, zhangwd@mysteel.com
Edited by Russ McCulloch, russ.mcculloch@mysteel.com