BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto have signed a joint venture agreement for iron ore exploration across both companies’ Western Australian assets.
BHP Billiton says they have filed submissions with the European Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in relation to the proposed production joint venture, and expect to submit filings in other relevant jurisdictions shortly.
“With the history of both companies' attempts to join together these two world-class iron ore operations in Western Australia at various times, this deal has effectively been more than a decade in the making,” BHP Billiton CEO Marius Kloppers says.
According to BHP Billiton, it anticipates the joint venture to be completed in the second half of 2010.
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