Rio Tinto, a global mining group that focuses on finding, mining and processing the Earth's mineral resources, and Codelco, a Chilean state owned copper mining company, agreed to form Nuevo Cobre joint venture to explore and potentially develop the company’s assets in Chile’s prospective Atacama region. Financial terms were not disclosed. “This is an unbeatable opportunity for Codelco and Rio Tinto to join our knowledge, experience, strengths and capabilities to accelerate exploration and development of these assets to contribute the copper that the world needs for its energy transition. We are very pleased to formalize this partnership with Rio Tinto and acknowledge our mutual commitment to following the best standards of health, safety, community relations and care for the environment,” Maximo Pacheco, Codelco Chairman.