Rio Tinto (50 per cent) and Wright Prospecting (50 per cent) have agreed to modernise the joint venture covering the Rhodes Ridge project in the East Pilbara in Western Australia, home to one of the world’s largest and highest quality undeveloped iron ore deposits.
The binding joint venture updates an existing agreement between the two parties dating back to 1972 and now provides a pathway for the development of the Rhodes Ridge deposits utilising Rio Tinto’s rail, port and power infrastructure.
The participants have commenced an Order of Magnitude study, conducted by Rio Tinto, which will consider the development of an operation before the end of the decade with initial plant capacity of up to 40 million tonnes annually, subject to the receipt of relevant approvals.
Rhodes Ridge contains 5.8 billion tonnes of high grade mineral resources at an average grade of 62.3 per cent iron. The project’s total resource, 6.7bt at an average grade of 61.6 per cent iron, represents approximately one-third of Rio Tinto’s existing resource base in the Pilbara. A resource drilling program is currently underway to support future project studies.
Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Simon Trott said Rhodes Ridge contained one of the biggest and best undeveloped iron ore deposits on the planet with proximate access to existing infrastructure.
“We are very excited we have been able to strengthen our relationship with Wright Prospecting and have a pathway to bring this high quality resource to market,” he said.
“With its significant resource base, the Rhodes Ridge project has the potential to underpin production of the Pilbara Blend in the decades ahead.
“We are committed to working closely with the Traditional Owners, the Nyiyaparli and Ngarlawangga People, to ensure sites of significant cultural, environmental, and biodiversity value are protected as part of any future development at Rhodes Ridge. Consistent with our revised approach for new operations, a co-management approach to any future mining activity will be developed in partnership with Traditional Owners.”
The joint venture will utilise Rio Tinto’s existing rail, port and power infrastructure, including the planned installment of 1 gigawatt of renewable power assets in the Pilbara.