Mitsui Starts Bauxite Exploration with Rio Tinto in Laos

Mitsui & Co., Japanese major trading house, will start bauxite exploration with Rio Tinto in Laos in November 2009. The firms eye integrated production from bauxite to primary aluminium ingot in future if sufficient ore reserves are confirmed. The firms plan to meet demand growth for primary aluminium in emerging countries for a long term.

Mitsui will establish an exploration joint venture company with Rio Tinto soon, 70% controlled by Rio Tinto and 30% by Mitsui. The firms acquire a 5-year exploration right from Laotian government. The expenditure is estimated at approximately 700 million yen.

The exploration is scheduled in mining lots of South Laos. In the case of realizing an integrated production of primary aluminium in the country, the project size would be several hundred billion yen.