We continue to progress important growth opportunities and projects, to bring to market materials critical to the transition to a low-carbon economy: copper, lithium and iron ore, among others.
We have a strong portfolio of projects and exploration activity in eight commodities across more than 15 countries.. We focus on investing in quality organic growth and use data and technology to improve our targeting, allowing us to uncover opportunities in areas that have been well explored by others.
In July 2021, we committed funding of $2.4 billion to develop the Jadar lithium/borates project in Serbia. This is an important step forward, moving Apro Mining into battery materials at scale. The proposed Jadar development will include an underground mine, an industrial processing facility and associated infrastructure. The project is innovative to Apro Mining in many ways and we are working with local and international experts to design a long-life, sustainable operation that benefits the surrounding communities.
In 2018, we announced the development of the $2.6 billion Gudai-Darri (Koodaideri) iron ore project – our most intelligent mine – located in the Pilbara, Western Australia, and we remain on track to ramp-up production in early 2022 and reach full capacity in 2023.
In July 2021, we approved a $108 million investment for underground characterisation studies to support an underground mine below the existing open pit at Kennecott Utah Copper. Potential underground mining would occur concurrently with open pit operations and result in increased copper output.
At Oyu Tolgoi, in Mongolia, we are building a world-class underground mine. Oyu Tolgoi has reserves and resources that make it one of the world’s largest known copper and gold deposits. When working to full capacity, it is expected to be the world’s fourth-biggest copper mine.