MELBOURNE -(Dow Jones)- Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) Iron Ore Chief Executive Sam Walsh said Monday the miner is making progress in talks with its joint venture partner in a long-stalled iron ore development in India's Orissa province.
"We have made substantial progress with our partners," he told an investor briefing in Sydney.
Rio's joint venture with Orissa Mining Corp. was formed in the late 1990s, but there has been little progress made, with reports of differences between the partners on the structure of the joint venture and plans to export the ore.
Walsh said Orissa was an "outstanding opportunity" and that ore from the venture would primarily go to supplying the local Indian market.
-By Alex Wilson, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2094; alex.wilson@dowjones.com