[ferro-alloys.com]Rio Tinto and Gina Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting will convert another 28 haul trucks to driverless operation at their Hope Downs iron ore joint venture in the Pilbara as part of the opening of a new satellite pit.

The new Baby Hope mine, which lies 4km south-west of the Hope Downs 1 south deposit, will sustain annual production at the combined operation at about 47 million tonnes.

The joint venture partners said 28 existing haul trucks at Hope Downs would be retrofitted with Rio’s autonomous haulage system technology by 2020.

Rio’s iron ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said the company would work closely with affected employees to redeploy and upskill them for other roles.

A Rio spokesman said the company anticipated redundancies could be avoided.

On Monday, Rio said a separate $2 billion investment to sustain production across its Pilbara operations. That outlay involved new projects at Robe Valley and West Angelas.

The investment approval comes ahead of Rio’s board making a final investment decision on the $US2.2 billion Koodaideri greenfields project, which would also sustain its Pilbara output.

Rio did not reveal the capital cost of Baby Hope or the size of the resource, however the mine is expected to be a multi-year asset. The partners said all government and environmental approvals for Baby Hope had been secured.

Rio Tinto bought in to Hope Downs in 2005 after Hancock completed a bankable feasibility study and exploration of other Hope Downs areas.

Mrs Rinehart and her children Bianca and John are involved in a legal battle over who owns Hope Downs.

• [Editor:王可]