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Land tenure issues in Brazil will probably delay the start-up of Anglo American's (AAL.L) Minas Rio iron ore project by one year to 2013, Dow Jones Newswires said, citing a person with knowledge of the situation.

Anglo American, one of the world's largest mining companies, is having problems acquiring land for the construction of a 310 mile-long ore slurry pipe, which is central to the mine's operation, Dow Jones reported. The company is currently negotiating with about 1,500 landowners, the wire said.

Anglo American bought the huge mine in early 2008 from Eike Batista, Brazil's richest man, as part of a $5.5 billion acquisition of iron ore assets in Brazil, including a 69 percent stake in Amapa project.

Calls made to Anglo spokespeople to their office and mobile phone numbers were not immediately answered.

Minas Rio, which is a high-quality iron ore deposit with an average of 68 percent iron content, has the potential to produce 80 million tonnes per year. In February, Anglo American Chief Executive Cynthia Carroll said the project would be ready by 2012, adding that the cost for the first phase of Minas Rio had risen 41 percent to $3.8 billion, the wire said.