Rio Tinto will sell a 30% stake in its Winu copper-gold project in Western Australia to Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. for $399 million, reported Bloomberg.
“This is a unique opportunity to derisk our investment,” said Katie Jackson, Rio’s chief executive of copper. “We look forward to working more broadly as strategic partners to find new ways to deliver value across the metals and minerals supply chain.”
Sumitomo will pay $195 million upfront and $204 million in deferred payments contingent on development progress, Rio said in a statement. The miner added that the companies would explore additional partnerships across copper, other base metals and lithium.
The undeveloped Winu project is a copper-gold deposit located in the northern Pilbara region, approximately 320 kilometres east of Port Hedland. A pre-feasibility study into building a mine will be released in 2025.
Source: Bloomberg