(Adds details and background in paragraphs 2-6) July 16...

(Adds details and background in paragraphs 2-6)

July 16 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto RIO.L (RIO) said on Tuesday its massive African iron ore project in Guinea that it is jointly developing with a Chinese consortium has received all the regulatory approvals, including those from the local and Chinese governments.

The Simandou project, which has a complex ownership structure, has seen its construction delayed for years by legal wrangling, political changes locally and the difficulty and cost of the 600 km of rail and port that need to be built to export the ore from the mines in the southeast of the country.

Global miner Rio Tinto owns two of the four Simandou mining blocks as part of its Simfer joint venture with China's Chalco Iron Ore Holdings (CIOH) and the government of Guinea. Rio Tinto holds a 53% stake, while CIOH holds the rest.

Chalco Iron Ore Holdings is 75% held by Aluminum Corporation of China 601600.SS and 20% by Baowu Steel Group.

The giant Simandou iron ore project in Guinea, set to be the world's largest and highest grade new iron ore mine, will commence production by 2025-end, and will add annual output of around 120 million metric tons of high-quality iron ore after it reaches full capacity.

Rio Tinto, which reported second-quarter iron ore shipments below analyst estimates earlier on Tuesday, had earmarked $800 million for its share of the development in 2023 and around $2 billion a year in 2024 and 2025.