Rio Tinto and Minmetals formalised a 50:50 Joint Venture Contract on June 7, with plans to explore world-class mineral deposits in China.
This news follows a ‘Technical Collaboration Contract’ signed in November 2017 when Rio Tinto and Minmetals both committed to a collaborative partnership in mineral exploration. However, the joint venture is still subject to regulatory approvals.
“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,” stated Rio Tinto chief executive, J-S Jacques.
The response from Minmetals echoed this.
“Rio Tinto has rich prospecting experience and great discoveries worldwide, while Minmetals has a 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,” announced China Minmetals Corporation President, Guo Wenqing.
Minmetals currently have a business scope over 26 nations and according to their website, have an accumulated turnover that exceeds US 60 billion.
The starting priority for the joint venture will be mineral targets in China that are identified under the Technical Collaboration Agreement, with Rio Tinto voicing that the future collaboration of the parties will expand to an exploration of global resources.
The registered capital of the joint venture between both parties will be RMB200M (equivalent to US$31.3 million) with initial contributions of RMB35M (US$5.5 million corresponding) by each party within the first six months of the joint venture’s establishment.