South Korean steelmaker POSCO will take part in a project with Japanese trading company Marubeni Corporation to develop one of the biggest iron ore mines in Australia, Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.

According to the report, the two companies will take over the rights to a Roy Hill iron ore mine located in the Pilbara region of the country and start production in 2014.

POSCO will gain 15 percent of the rights to the iron ore mine, while Marubeni will gain 12.5 percent, which will involve an investment of 840 billion yen. The contract is expected to be completed within this month.

The Roy Hill mines are estimated to produce 55 million tons of iron ore per year.