Jan 15 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto and BHP Group, two of the world's top miners, will work together to extract up to 200 million metric tons of iron ore from two adjoining sites in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

Rio Tinto, in a statement on its website on Thursday, said it would team up with BHP to develop their Yandicoogina and Yandi sites, respectively.

The two miners will work together to develop Rio Tinto's Wunbye deposit and to process ore from BHP's Yandi site at Rio Tinto's facilities.

"Together we will extend the life of these operations, create additional value, and further support Western Australian jobs and local communities," Rio Tinto's iron ore chief executive, Matthew Holcz, said.

The collaboration, part of a 2023 agreement, underscores how iron ore remains central to the world's biggest miners even as they increasingly pivot towards copper and other metals vital to the global energy transition.

The steel-making commodity accounts for about two-thirds of the miners' core earnings, with the Pilbara operations firmly anchoring their portfolios.