Rio Tinto Commits Addl. $302 Mln Investment In Resolution Copper Project In U.S.

(RTTNews) - Mining giant Rio Tinto Plc (RTNTF, RIO, RIO.L, RTPPF) announced Monday that it has committed $302 million of additional capital to advance its Resolution Copper project in the US state of Arizona.

The investment will fund additional drilling, ore-body studies, infrastructure improvements and permitting activities as Rio Tinto looks to progress the project to the final stage of the project's permitting phase.

The company noted that Resolution, when fully operational, has the potential to supply nearly 25% of the United States copper demand and will create several thousand direct and indirect jobs in the Pioneer Mining District of Arizona.

The project is currently in its seventh year of a comprehensive environmental review and approval process, conducted by the US Forest Service under the National Environmental Policy Act.

Upon this investment, project partners will have invested over $2 billion to develop and permit Resolution since 2004.