PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining giant Rio Tinto has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese State-owned group Chinalco to expedite the development of new mining technology, and to further develop Rio’s Mine of the Future programme.

The collaboration brought together Rio’s leadership in partnering to deliver mining innovation with the resources and expertise of Chinalco’s research and development centres.

The aim is to develop and deploy technology to create safer working operations, improve environmental performance and increase the productivity of mining operations.

The focus will be on enhancing the value of both companies’ partner networks by allowing new ideas to be developed and applied at a faster pace and, at a lower cost.

“We have been in the business of producing metals and minerals for over 140 years. We wouldn’t have been as successful as a business without finding better ways of working and adapting to a changing world,” Rio CEO Sam Walsh said.

“The future leaders in our industry will be those companies that stay ahead of the game and keep applying fresh thought and practices to the business of mining. Together with Chinalco, we have the potential to deliver even more value for shareholders, by fully realising our pipeline of technology and innovation projects and taking next-generation technologies through to full commercialisation and deployment.”

Chinalco chairperson Xiong Weiping noted that the technical cooperation was of great significance for improving efficiency, reducing resource and energy consumption, developing green and safe mines, achieving sustainable development of resources and introducing innovation into economic growth.

“I hope this commercial cooperation approach of sincerity and mutual benefit can be widely applied into new-type partnerships among major international companies,” he added.

Rio and Chinalco will work together to determine how best to capture the potential for cooperation in this area, and the arrangements contemplated by the MoU remain subject to the execution of a binding agreement.