Robe River J/V Mine Development in Western Australia

Mitsui & Co.， Ltd.
Nippon Steel Corporation
Sumitomo Metal Industries， Ltd.


Tokyo， December 27， 2007－Mitsui & Co.， Ltd. (“Mitsui”)， Nippon Steel Corporation (“Nippon Steel”)， and Sumitomo Metal Industries， Ltd. (“Sumitomo Metals”) announced today that they decided to develop Mesa A / Warramboo mine， which is jointly operated with Rio Tinto group (“Rio Tinto”)， in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Total high-grade reserves across the Mesa A / Warramboo deposits are estimated at approximately 250 million tons. The mine will have a full scale capacity of 25 million tons annually and will start production in 2010. It will sustain production of Robe Valley ore at 32 million tons annually， with a total mine life of 11 years. A 49-kilometer rail extension will connect the new mine to the existing rail network.

The project capital cost is estimated at approximately US$900 million， which will be funded on pro-rata basis among J/V participants (Rio Tinto: 53%， Mitsui: 33%， Nippon Steel: 10.5%， Sumitomo Metals: 3.5%).


Robe River J/V
1.History
1970: Establishment (Mitsui participated in J/V)
1972: Commencing shipment of iron ore from Robe River
1977: Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metals participated in J/V
2000: Rio Tinto participated in J/V after TOB of “North”
2002: Commencing shipment of iron ore from West Angelas

2. Actual production of iron ore of Robe River J/V
　　(unit: million tons)
　　　　　　　　CY2003 CY2004 CY2005 CY2006
Robe River　　　　32　　　　30　　　31　　　　29
West Angelas　　　13　　　　18　　　21　　　　24
Total　　　　　　　45　　　　48　　　52　　　　53



For further information， please contact:

Mitsui & Co.， Ltd.
Media Relations Department，
Corporate Communications Division
Tel: +81-(0)3-3285-7562

Nippon Steel Corporation
Public Relations Center，
General Administration Division
Tel: +81-(0)3-3275-5021

Sumitomo Metal Industries， Ltd.
Public Relations & Investor Relations Department
Tel: +81-(0)3-4416-6115