Mitsubishi didn’t disclose a sale price, but said it will transfer all of its shares in the Jack Hills iron ore development project to state-owned Sinosteel.   

According to the Australian Financial Review newspaper, much of the iron ore in the region is lower-grade magnetite, and processing it into a suitable concentrate is expensive and energy intensive. That has made the newly acquired deposits largely unviable, the newspaper said. 

“But there are signs that might be changing, particularly given the trend for Chinese steel mills to seek higher-grade, higher-quality raw materials,” the newspaper said.