Rio Tinto enters Joint Venture with China Minmetals Corporation

Rio Tinto is heading to China, following the formalisation of a new joint venture targeting exploration opportunities.

In an announcement made this week, the leading miner revealed that it had established a 50:50 joint venture with China Minmetals Corporation to explore for world-class mineral deposits in China.

Subject to regulatory approvals, the JV follows the news that the two parties had entered into a Technical Collaboration Contract back in November 2017.

The immediate priority for the joint venture will be mineral targets in China that are identified under the Technical Collaboration Agreement. The future collaboration of the parties will expand to exploration of global resources

Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques said, "The formalisation of the exploration joint venture is an important milestone in our growing partnership with China and Minmetals, who is an increasingly important player in the global mining industry. Our complementary strengths in exploration put us in the best possible position to find metals and minerals essential to human progress."
 

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China Minmetals Corporation president Guo Wenqing said, "The collaboration is very significant to Minmetals. Rio Tinto has rich prospecting experience and great discoveries worldwide, while Minmetals has solid technical expertise and extensive experience – the two strong partners will drive breakthroughs, pioneer progress, and promote the exchanges and collaboration of the global resource industry.

The JV has been registered with a capital of around $30 million, which is subject to change as the exploration work continues.