The exploration arm of major Rio Tinto has taken a 51% interest in the Citadel copper/gold project, in Western Australia, after spending A$11-million on exploration.
ASX-listed junior Antipa Minerals on Thursday said that Rio has now assumed operatorship of the joint venture (JV), and had until the end of January to elect whether to sole fund an additional A$14-million of exploration expenditure over the next three years to increase its interest in the JV to 65%.