Rio Tinto ramps up copper and iron ore production in Q3

15th Oct 2013 07:15

Rio Tinto enjoyed a good third quarter of production, having produced and shipped a record level of iron ore thanks to its new infrastructure in Western Australia.The group said it was also on track to reduce 2013 exploration and evaluation spending by more than its targeted $750m, having achieved $729m in lower spending during the nine months to September compared to the same period in 2012.Chief Executive Sam Walsh said the overall third quarter production results were "strong", with copper volumes up as the Oyu Tolgoi joint venture in Mongolia ramped up to full capacity and Kennecott continues to recover ahead of expectations. Shipments of copper concentrate to China began in early July and Rio reported that Oyu Tolgoi's customers were "making good progress with Chinese customs officials to obtain the necessary approvals to allow collection of purchased concentrate from the bonded warehouse".As a result, mined copper rose 11% versus the previous month and 23% versus the equivalent period in 2012.Iron ore shipments were up 11% on the preceding quarter and 4% on the previous year, due to productivity improvements in the Australian operations. Walsh said this was following the official opening of its Pilbara port and rail expansion, four months ahead of its original schedule and $400m under budget. Production of semi-soft and thermal coal improved as Rio completed the expansion of its brownfield mine and reported significant productivity gains through improvements to its loading and haulage fleets.Though hard coking coal was down 6% on the previous year, it was up 18% on the preceding quarter, while thermal coal was up 14% on 2012 and down 1% on the previous months. Walsh concluded that the group had maintained "good progress against our strategic priorities to improve the performance of our businesses, strengthen the balance sheet and deliver our approved growth projects"."We are also making further important gains in productivity across our operations and continue to drive costs out of the business."OH