A shiploader pours iron ore into a bulk carrier at the Dampier Port in Western Australia. (Photo: Rio Tinto).

For more than 50 years, China has grown to become Rio Tinto’s largest customer with about 250 million mt of iron ore shipped each year. Rio Tinto partnered with China for the country’s first-ever investment in a foreign mining project, and its largest-ever foreign investment at the time, by forming the Channar joint venture in 1987. That JV in Western Australia laid the foundation for many projects to follow, and for decades of mutual growth and prosperity between Rio Tinto, China and Australia.

Western Range, Rio Tinto’s newest mine, is the latest joint venture partnership with China Baowu. Production from the mine is expected to commence in 2025, with an annual capacity of 25 million mt of iron ore.

“China has been a critical partner for Rio Tinto and for Australia’s mining industry for more than five decades,” said Simon Trott, iron ore chief executive for Rio Tinto. “China’s strong demand for high-quality minerals such as iron ore has generated substantial opportunities for investment and trade between the two countries.

“Every time I visit China and see the skyscrapers, the high-speed rail, and all the infrastructure that has helped improve the lives of 1.4 billion people, it makes me proud to think that most of what I see contains steel that was made with Rio Tinto iron ore. We look forward to continuing our relationship with China well into the future as we continue to deepen our strategic partnership.”