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Mining Giant Announces $3 Billion Expansion in Western Australia

20 October 2010 04:16 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Rio Tinto, one of the worldâ€™s largest mining companies, has announced a $3-billion expansion of its iron ore operations in western Australia, APA reports quoting voanews.com website.
The firm said Wednesday the investment in new port and rail infrastructure in the Pilbara region will take its production capacity to 283 million tons a year in 2013 from the current 220 million tons. The company says it plans to expand capacity further to 333 million tons by 2015.
Rioâ€™s chief executive in Australia, Sam Walsh, said it will be the largest mining project ever undertaken in Australia.
The announcement comes two days after Rio Tinto and another mining giant, BHP Billiton, said they were abandoning plans to merge their iron ore operations in western Australia.
The two companies said they were convinced they could not get regulatory approval for the $120 billion plan. It was opposed by authorities in Australia, Japan, South Korea, the European Union and China, which is the worldâ€™s largest purchaser of iron ore.
Australiaâ€™s remote Pilbara region is rich in iron ore, but mining operations there are associated with huge costs for necessary infrastructure.