A leading Chinese iron ore distributor and an emerging iron ore producer in Australia signed here Tuesday a deal on a joint venture worth 1.5 billion Australian dollars (1.1 billion US dollars).

Industry people hailed the deal as making history in the Australian resource industry as it is the first to allow an Australian and a Chinese company undertake risk together at the early stages of a resource project.

The joint venture between China's Sinosteel Corporation and Australia's Midwest Corporation covers scooping, pre-feasibility and bankable feasibility studies in Western Australia's mid-west region. It includes two projects for the Koolanooka magnetite and Weld Range hematite.

President of Sinosteel Huang Tianwen told reporters that his company is pleased to have this opportunity to secure a long term supply of iron ore to China, whose rapid economic development requires huge imports of minerals.

He declined to give a timeframe for mining for the projects, saying feasibility studies should be done as quickly as possible.

Source: Xinhua