Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton PLC announced they have agreed to collaborate in the Pilbara mining region of Australia to extract up to 200 million tons of iron ore from their respective adjacent operations. The two companies stated in a declaration on Thursday that, under two non-binding agreements, they will consider jointly developing Rio Tinto's Wunbye deposit. The companies also said they will explore the possibility of BHP supplying ore from its Yandi Lower Channel Deposit to Rio Tinto for processing at Rio Tinto's existing wet processing plant. BHP and Rio Tinto are the world's two largest mining companies by market value and are among the biggest producers of iron ore, which is used to make steel. Matthew Holcz, head of Rio Tinto's iron ore business, said, "By working together more intelligently, we can better utilize existing infrastructure to unlock additional production with minimal capital requirements."