Rio Tinto iron ore production hits record levels

18th Jan 2011 07:38

Mining giant Rio Tinto's global iron ore operations set a new quarterly production record in the final three months of 2010.The group produced 65m tonnes in the final quarter of last year, up from 50m tonnes the year before, taking 2010 production up to a record 239m tonnes, versus 185m tonnes in 2009.Mined copper levels dipped 9% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, while refined copper levels fell 6%. Full year levels dropped 16% and 9%, respectively, on 2009 levels, in line with previous guidance.Bauxite production increased by 9% in the fourth quarter, while alumina and aluminium production were more or less flat.Australian hard coking coal production was up 8% on the fourth quarter of 2009 and rose 20% on full year 2009, following increased investment at the Queensland operations. Australian thermal coal production was down 9% overall for the year, mainly due to wet weather in the Hunter Valley. The group said the force majeure declaration at the four Queensland coal mines remains in place while the region seeks to overcome the effects of the flooding. All the Queensland coal mines are operational but are still constrained in some way by weather effects, including the impact on third party infrastructure. Rio Tinto is currently unable to provide an estimate of the full impact of this adverse weather or the duration of the force majeure declaration.