The Robe River iron ore joint venture, made up of Australian producer Rio Tinto and Japanese firms Mitsui and Nippon Steel, will invest $733mn into the 35mn t/yr West Angelas project to maintain production.
The venture plans to mine new deposits at the project, Rio Tinto said on 7 October. State and federal regulators have approved an expansion of the West Angelas iron mine, extending the site's operational life from 15 to 25 years, it said. The expansion will open in 2027, it added.
Robe River has been expanding over the past year. It bought Australian producer CZR Resources' developing 3.5mn–5mn t/yr Robe Mesa project for A$75mn ($49.6mn) in September.
Rio Tinto owns 53pc of the Robe River joint venture. The company expects to produce 323mn–338mn t of iron ore in 2025, it said in its April-June quarterly report released on 16 July.
The company is also heavily investing in projects to maintain current production levels and ore grades as its older mines close. It partnered with Australian producer Hancock Prospecting to invest $1.6bn into the Hope Downs iron ore mine, increasing its capacity by 31mn t/yr.
Rio Tinto will also open its 40mn t/yr Rhodes Ridge project and 34mn t/yr Brockman mine expansion by 2030.
The company's iron ore expansion comes alongside declining ore grades at Western Australian mines. Rio Tinto revised the iron ore content specification of its Pilbara Blend Fines product from 61.6pc Fe to 60.8pc Fe.
Argus' iron ore fines 61pc Fe (ICX) cfr Qingdao price was last assessed at $101.25/t on 6 October, $3/t below its iron ore fines 62pc Fe (ICX) cfr Qingdao price.
