China Baowu and Rio Tinto Make Progress on $2 Billion Iron Ore Joint Venture in Western Australia

According to a media report on February 18, China Baowu and Rio Tinto's $2 billion iron ore joint venture in Western Australia had recently been approved by Australia's Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB).

The West Slope project is the continuation of the existing Baoruiji joint venture project (East Slope Project). The Baoruiji joint venture project is an iron ore project developed by the former Baosteel Group and Rio Tinto's Hamersley Holdings in Pilbara, Western Australia.

The target of the West Slope project is to produce 275 million mt of iron ore within the joint venture period, with a designed production capacity of 25 million mt per year. The average grade of iron ore is about 62%, and the total investment is about $2 billion. The construction started in early 2023 and will be put into production in 2025. Baowu and Rio Tinto have also reached an iron ore procurement agreement. Baowu will purchase 126 million mt of Rio Tinto's iron ore products following the proportion of equity, which means Baowu will buy about 11.5 million mt from Rio Tinto per year.