British-Australian Rio Tinto and Chinese Minmetals formalized a contract on Thursday to establish an equally-owned joint venture to explore mineral deposits in China.
The registered capital of the joint venture will be US$31.3 million with each party contributing an initial $5.5 million within approximately six months of the establishment of the joint venture, according to the statement.
'Any further capital contributions will be subject to unanimous approval of the parties and linked to agreed target areas,' the statement read.
The immediate priority for the joint venture will be mineral targets in China, the statement showed.
'Our complementary strengths in exploration put us in the best possible position to find metals and minerals essential to human progress,' Rio Tinto Chief Executive J-S Jacques was quoted as saying.
In addition, both companies signed a technical collaboration contract in November 2017.
By Huseyin Erdogan
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr