On March 16, China's top aluminium group Chinalco announced that it has entered into negotiations with Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto with a view to cooperating in the development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper ore project in Mongolia and the Simandou iron ore project, Guinea, West Africa. The details have not yet been disclosed.
It is estimated that the two programs in question will cost more than tens of billions of US dollar in total.
The Simandou iron ore mine is the largest maiden iron ore deposit in the world, with iron ore reserves totaling 2.25 billion mt, of which over half are of 65 percent iron content. Meanwhile, the Oyu Tolgoi copper ore deposit is the world's largest maiden copper ore mine, and is located in the South Gobi region of Mongolia.