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Anglo-Australian iron ore producer Rio Tinto on July 14 announced US$200 million in funding to prepare for the expansion of its iron ore operations in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
 
The funding will allow dredging contracts to be issued as part of early works on the expansion of the Cape Lambert port (CLB), supporting the overall gradual capacity increase of Rio Tinto's Pilbara operations to 330 million mt a year by 2016.
 
The dredging is associated with the proposed construction of an additional 1.8 kilometer, four-berth jetty and wharf at Cape Lambert to increase its current annual capacity of 80 million mt by a further 100 million mt.
 
Rio Tinto chief executive iron ore and Australia, Sam Walsh, said the dredging works would help ensure that subsequent decisions on the expansion of operations could be implemented as quickly and efficiently as possible.
 
The dredging works are dependent upon a number of government and other approvals, most notably the approval of the Robe River joint venture partners with regard to the Cape Lambert port.