(Yicai) Aug. 9 -- The joint venture of China Baowu Steel Group, the world's largest steelmaker, and Rio Tinto formed to develop an iron ore mine in Western Australia will become operational next year.

It will take a few years for the mine to reach its planned output of 25 million tons of iron ore a year, Simon Trott, chief executive officer of Rio Tinto Iron Ore, told Yicai today.

Rio Tinto holds 54 percent of the JV that will develop the Western Range project in Pilbara, while Baowu owns the rest. The pair invested USD2 billion to set up the company in September 2022.

Rio Tinto hopes its iron ore output will reach 345 million to 360 million tons per year, Trott noted, adding that it was about 340 million tons last year, so it needs to develop new mines to achieve the goal.

China has been an important partner for Rio Tinto and Australia's mining industry over the past 50 years, Trott said. The London-based firm ships about 250 million tons of iron ore to the country a year.

Editor: Martin Kadiev