Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting will invest $1.61 billion (Rio Tinto share $0.8 billion) to develop the Hope Downs 2 iron ore project in Western Australia’s Pilbara region.

The Hope Downs 2 project, to mine Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting’s Hope Downs 2 and Bedded Hilltop deposits, has now received all necessary State and Federal Government approvals.

The two new above-water-table iron ore pits will have a combined total annual production capacity of 31 million tonnes and will sustain production from the Hope Downs Joint Venture into the future.

The project includes new non-process infrastructure precincts, railway crossings and haul roads, as well as realigning a 6-kilometer section of the Great Northern Highway.

Ore mined at the two sites will be transported to Hope Downs 1 for processing, with first ore from the deposits and associated infrastructure scheduled for 2027.

Hope Downs 2 is part of Rio Tinto’s tranche of replacement projects that underpin the company’s ongoing commitment to the Pilbara, and which will have combined total capacity of about 130Mtpa.

During the next three years (2025-2027), Rio Tinto expects to invest more than $13 billion on new mines, plant and equipment.

The company says that it has a clear pathway to achieve and sustain mid-term system capacity of 345 to 360Mtpa from its Pilbara iron ore business, with a pre-feasibility study also underway on the Rhodes Ridge project, the Pilbara’s best undeveloped iron ore deposit.

Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting are equal partners in the Hope Downs Joint Venture. The Joint Venture was originally established in 2006, with Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting’s shared history extending back to the early 1960s.

Hope Downs 1 started production in 2007, followed by Hope Downs 4, with first ore in 2013.