Posco Holdings receives $63M in dividends from Australian miner

Roy Hill mine in Pilbara, Western Australia [POSCO HOLDINGS]

Posco Holdings said Tuesday it received 85 billion won ($63.2 million) in third-quarter dividends from Roy Hill Holdings, retrieving all of its investment in the Australian mining company.

The decision came as Roy Hill Holdings decided to pay 800 million Australian dollars ($514 million) in total third-quarter dividends to its investors, Posco Holdings said in a statement.

Posco Holdings owns a 12.5 percent stake in Roy Hill Holdings, and received 85 billion won in dividends.

Posco and Roy Hill set up an iron ore mine in Pilbara, Western Australia — which the Korean company purchased for about 1.49 billion Australian dollars in 2010.

All combined, Posco Holdings has received 1.3 trillion won in total dividends from Roy Hill Holdings since the third quarter of 2020.

“Starting from 50 billion won of dividends we received in the third quarter of 2020, we have now received a total of 1.3 trillion won, the same amount we invested in the company for 13 years and nine months,” the company said in Tuesday's statement.

Roy Hill, the single largest iron ore mine in Australia, is estimated to contain 2.3 billion tons of iron ore reserves, with its annual production output reaching 63 million tons.

Posco said it currently receives more than 25 percent of its annual iron ore needs from the Roy Hill mine.

Posco has been participating in 21 raw material projects around the world since 1981, when it first made an investment in the Mount Thorley Warkworth mine in Australia.

Posco's raw materials self-sufficiency rate now stands at around 40 percent, compared to around 10 percent in 2010.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]