Iron ore major Rio Tinto has widened its search for future new production sources in Western Australia’s Pilbara region with agreements to explore with the option to acquire four tenements close to existing mines.
Rio has agreed to pay up current holder DiscovEx Resources up to $A9.3M including option fees and royalties for the iron ore rights over its Sylvania project, 15km SW of Newman.
DiscovEx will retain rights over other materials, and will continue to explore its gold and base metal potential.
MD Toby Wellman says attracting a Tier 1 miner speaks volumes for the quality of the tenement package accumulated over 2 years by DiscovEx.