Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) has given a A$160 million contract to a joint venture owned by indigenous Australians for construction work expanding iron ore mines in the country's western Pilbara region, the mining company said Thursday.

The one-year contract will support work on Brockman 4 to take its annual capacity to 40 million metric tons from 22 million and take Western Turner Syncline to 15 million tons, Rio Tinto said in a statement.

The expansion is a key component of the Anglo-Australian company's push to reach a capacity of 333 million tons a year in the Pilbara in 2015.

It is the second contract given to a joint venture formed between mining services company NRW Holdings Ltd. (NWH.AU) and Eastern Guruma, the traditional owners of the region, and follows a A$200 million contract awarded in late 2009 to construct and operate the Western Turner Syncline mine.

"Rio Tinto has worked long and hard at building our Aboriginal employment levels across our Australian operations, and that work continues. But it is equally important that we support indigenous business participation," said Sam Walsh, chief executive of Rio Tinto's iron ore division.

-By Robb M. Stewart, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 3 9292 2094; robb.stewart@dowjones.com
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