Australia-based miner Rio Tinto has announced that it has spent over $385 million on local Western Australian and Pilbara Aboriginal businesses to develop Greater Tom Price iron ore operations.
The investment in the Western Turner Syncline Phase 2 (WTS2) mine will help sustain the current workforce at the Greater Tom Price production hub.
The construction of the WTS2 expansion commenced in early 2020 and to date more than 85 percent of spending on the project has been awarded to Western Australian and Pilbara Aboriginal businesses. The company invested $749 million in the mine in November 2019 to sustain the production capacity of its iron ore business in Pilbara with a new crusher and a 13-kilometre conveyor which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.5 percent.
First production from the new deposits at WTS2 is expected in the second half of 2021.
