MinRes completes West Pilbara deal

Shareholders in Red Hill Iron have voted in favour of selling an entire stake in a West Pilbara joint venture to Mineral Resources.

The $400 million deal was announced at the end of July and involved MinRes acquiring Red Hill’s 40 per cent stake in the Red Hill Iron Joint Venture (RHIO JV).

Earlier this year, MinRes bought a 15 per cent stake in major Red Hill shareholder Aquila Resources.

Aquila is part of the Australian Premium Iron Joint Venture (API JV), which owns the remaining 60 per cent of the RHIO JV.

MinRes said the acquisition aligned with its strategy to expand its resource inventory around the company’s Ashburton Hub and underpin a long-term, sustainable iron ore export business.

It has already paid $200 million in cash to Red Hill Iron and will pay a further $200 million when the Chris Ellison-led company makes its first commercial iron ore shipment from West Pilbara.

MinRes shares were up 2.6 per cent at 2pm AEST to trade at $54.68.