The scrip deal will result in Palmer’s Resource Development International (RDI) playing a key role in the mining of 20 billion tonnes of iron ore from the Balmoral tenements in Western Australia. RDI will launch a $5 billion IPO later this year for a dual listing on Hong Kong Stock Exchange and the ASX.

Palmer’s Mineralogy company scooped a deal with Chinese industry heavyweight CITIC Pacific (a major shareholder in Macarthur Coal) earlier this year for six separate magnetite projects and a pellet processing plant that includes a first-up payment of around $290 million.

Each project will mine a billion tonnes of iron ore and involve the export of $1 billion worth of product every year for the next 30 years. His WA tenements are believed to contain an estimated 60 billion tonnes of iron ore.