According to report, Japanese trading house Marubeni Corp, teamed up with South Korean steelmaker Posco and shipbuilding STX Corp, will purchase 30% stake of Roy Hill iron ore project in Australia from Hancock Prospecting for AUD3.5 billion.

The Roy Hill project is expected to start its first shipment in 2014 and reach annul production of 55 million tons. With this capacity, it will catch the production level of Australia’s No.3 producer Fortescue Metals Group.

Marubeni will take over 12.5% of project for AUD1.5 billion, and Posco will buy 15% for AUD1.7 billion and STX will hold 2.5% for AUD300 million.

The mine is estimated that reserves about 2.4 billion of iron ore, locating at the Pilbara region.