Rio Tinto delivers record Q3 for iron, lifts copper guidance

15th Oct 2014 07:36

Mining group Rio Tinto said it achieved "another strong quarter" with iron ore shipments, production and rail volumes reaching record highs, while it lifted its full-year guidance for copper output.Iron ore shipments increased by 15% year-on-year in the third quarter to 78m tonnes, while production rose 12% to 76.8m tonnes.Iron ore sales from the Pilbara region in Australia continued to exceeds production in the third quarter, the company said, as stocks that were built in anticipation of delivery of the infrastructure expansion were drawn down.However, full-year guidance for iron ore production was left unchanged at 295m tonnes, subject to weather constraints.Meanwhile, copper output only rose 1% to 151,800 tonnes in the third quarter, but year-to-date production is now 15% higher than last year due to improved recoveries at the Kennecott concentrator and the sustained ramp up at Oyu Tolgoi.Rio Tinto expects to produce 615,000 tonnes of copper this year, up from its previous guidance of 585,000.Aluminium production was down by 1% over the year before at 848,000 tonnes as the output from a new plan and productivity gains across the smelter portfolio was offset by the loss of production from Shawinigan, which closed in November 2013. The partial shutdown at Kitimat also had an impact.Elsewhere, bauxite and titanium dioxide feedstock production saw small declines on the third quarter of 2013, while larger falls were seen in hard coking coal and semi-soft/thermal coal.