Rio Tinto and its largest shareholder, Chinalco have signed on the dotted line to develop the Simandou iron ore project in the West African country of Guinea.
The agreement follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Rio Tinto and the state-owned Chinalco, in March this year.
The deal was been made final yesterday at a signing ceremony in Beijing's Great Hall of the People.
Rio Tinto says the joint venture is expected to begin production within five years.
The Simandou project has been compared with Western Australia's Pilbara region for its potential size and opportunity. The project has however been facing bottlenecks due to tension between miners and the former national government, as well as funding concerns.
The new deal -- the largest third-country mining collaboration between a Western and Chinese company -- could bode well for further joint ventures with Chinalco.
It is expected to put to rest tensions with China after Rio's rejection last year of Chinalco's $21.7 billion offer for a larger slice of the miner and the arrests of four Rio employees for bribery and stealing business secrets, including Australian Stern Hu.
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