Rio Tinto
(ASX:RIO) has finalised a new agreement with the Mongolian government for the development of a $4.4 billion copper-gold project in the country.
Under the investment agreement, the Mongolia government will own 34 per cent of the company holding the license for project, which is being developed by Rio Tinto and Canada's Ivanhoe Mines.
Rio Tinto says the development phase of the project will now start, with production to commence in 2013.
Output will be ramped up over five years to a full production rate of 450,000 tonnes of copper per year, with substantial gold by-products.
The $4.4 billion project was initially expected to cost closer to $2 billion, and Ivanhoe originally planned to commission the mine last year.
Rio Tinto’s 2009 net profit was $5.4 billion.
