Rio Tinto and China's Chinalco have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop new mining technology and further develop Rio Tinto's mine of the future programme, Rio said Friday.
Speaking at an event in Beijing Friday, Rio Tinto's chief executive officer Sam Walsh said the MOU with Chinalco will see "many of the projects we have in mind set a benchmark in best-practice for mining."
"They will improve safety, they will minimize the environmental impact of resource extraction and processing and they will improve the efficiency and sustainability of resource utilization," he said.
The main focus of the MOU will be on enhancing the value of both companies' partner networks by allowing new ideas to be developed and applied at a faster pace and at a lower cost, Rio Tinto said.
Chinalco is Rio Tinto's largest shareholder holding around 12% of the company. The two companies are also developing the joint venture Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, which is expected to produce as much as 100,000 mt/year by 2023.
