Australian iron ore giant Rio Tinto has announced that it has signed a heads of agreement (HoA) with Chinese state-owned metals and mining corporation China Minmetals Corporation to discuss opportunities for potential collaboration in mineral exploration. The agreement sets out the principles and framework for a potential mineral exploration collaboration, both inside and outside China.
According to Rio Tinto’s statement, the two companies will now work to formalize written agreements detailing the principles and other matters relating to its implementation and to establish joint teams to start the process of identifying targets for potential exploration collaboration.