The giant Anglo-Australian miner, Rio Tinto, has agreed to a joint venture with Chinese firm, Chinalco.

The formerly tense relationship between China's state-owned Chinalco and Rio has been set aside so an iron ore project can go ahead in Guinea, West Africa.

In the deal, a Chinalco subsidiary will acquire 47 percent of Rio's Simandou project by providing $1.35 billion in development money.

Company officials have said that after a period of bedding in, the two entities will run the mine to produce more than 70 million tons of high-grade iron ore annually, to mainly satisfy Chinese commodity demands.

The relationship between Rio Tinto and China became strained last year when Rio upset a planned $19.5 billion investment at the height of the financial crisis.

Rio Tinto's executive in charge of iron ore negotiations, Australian citizen Stern Hu, was then jailed in China after being convicted of corruption.