Rio Tinto Reports Strong Q2 Production Increases Across Key Minerals

According to the April-June production results announced by Anglo-Australian resource major Rio Tinto, copper ore production increased 18% year-on-year to 171,000 tons. This increase was driven by higher production at the Kennecott Mine in the U.S., recovering from equipment failures in the same period last year. The Escondida Mine in Chile reported increased production due to higher ore grades from continued mining in high-grade areas. Additionally, the Oyu Tolgoi Mine in Mongolia saw increased production due to the start-up of an underground mining project and higher ore grades. The annual production plan for copper remains unchanged at 660,000-720,000 tons, though the company expects to be near the lower end of this range due to a revised mining plan at Kennecott.

Ore production by mine for the April-June period was as follows: Kennecott produced 32,000 tons, up 30%; Escondida produced 86,000 tons, up 12%; and Oyu Tolgoi produced 35,000 tons, up 23%. The annual production plan for copper ingots also remains unchanged, with Kennecott expected to increase production by 2.3 times to 48,000 tons, while Escondida is expected to decrease production by 30% to 15,000 tons.

Meanwhile, bauxite production for the April-June period increased 9% year-on-year to 14.7 million tons, and aluminum production rose 1% year-on-year to 824,000 tons. The increase in bauxite production is attributed to higher capacity utilization at Weipa in Australia following the introduction of the Safe Production System (SPS). The annual production plan for bauxite is expected to be near the upper limit of the previous plan of 53-56 million tons.