Robe River JV to Invest $733M in West Angelas

The Robe River Joint Venture—Rio Tinto, Mitsui & Co. and Nippon Steel—will invest $733 million (Rio Tinto share $389 million) to develop new deposits at the West Angelas hub in Western Australia after receiving state and federal approvals, under the West Angelas Sustaining Project that will extend the operation’s life. The project will preserve the hub’s annual capacity of about 35 million tonnes, target first ore in 2027, and construction will add new non‑process precincts, about 22 km of haul roads and autonomous trucking to existing processing facilities. Work is expected to create roughly 600 construction jobs and help sustain about 950 full‑time equivalent roles once operational. Rio Tinto says it co‑designed cultural heritage management plans with the Yinhawangka and Ngarlawangga Peoples. The extension forms part of Rio Tinto’s wider Pilbara replacement programme—including Rhodes Ridge and recent Western Range works—and comes as Australia’s Office of the Chief Economist notes iron ore remains the country’s largest resources export (over A$100 billion annually) though weaker prices are expected to cut export earnings this and next financial year.