Chinalco, Rio to cooperate on copper, iron ore projects
Shanghai. March 17. INTERFAX-CHINA - The Aluminum Corporation of China (Chinalco), the country's largest aluminum and alumina producer, plans to cooperate with global mining giant Rio Tinto on a copper-gold deposit in Mongolia and an iron ore deposit in the Western African Republic of Guinea, state media reported on March 17.
Chinalco wants to cooperate with Rio on exploration of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit and the Simandou iron ore deposit. The two companies will discuss details of such a cooperation this month, Lu Youqing, vice president of Chinalco, said in an Oriental Morning Post report, though he did not reveal further details.
The Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit is estimated to be the largest unexplored copper deposit in the world and the Simandou iron ore deposit has iron ore resources of 2.25 billion tons with a grading of 65 percent, according to the report. Exploration costs for the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold deposit and the Simandou iron ore deposit are expected to reach $4.5 billion and $12 billion respectively.-LCL