While Rio Tinto iron ore shipments reduced from the previous quarter, the company achieved a record figure for the first quarter of a calendar year.
Rio shipped approximately 82,500 tonnes of iron ore across the three months – a 16 per cent jump from the first quarter of 2022. The major miner produced approximately 79,300 tonnes of iron ore across this time.
“We continue to make steady progress with our highest ever first quarter shipments achieved in the Pilbara iron ore business,” Rio Tinto chief executive officer Jakob Stausholm said.
“Through the ongoing deployment of our Safe Production System (SPS) we expect to see a sustainable lift in operating performance across our global portfolio over time, in line with improvements already achieved.”
After nine months, Rio Tinto clinched its copper prize in late 2022 by gaining full ownership of Turquoise Hill Resources and gaining majority control of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.
Oyu Tolgoi achieved first sustainable underground production in the first quarter of 2023 and copper production from the mine increased 41 per cent overall from the corresponding quarter last year.
Rio put the production uplift down to concentrator maintenance completed in the quarter before and higher copper head grades (0.49 per cent vs. 0.40 per cent). 700,000 tonnes of ore was milled from Oyu Tolgoi’s underground mine at an average grade of 1.36 per cent copper during the quarter, with 9.6 million tonnes milled from the open pit at an average grade of 0.43 per cent.
Like BHP, copper has become a clear focus of Rio Tinto’s. Before gaining majority control of Oyu Tolgoi, the major only wholly owned one copper operation, the Kennecott mine in the US.
Rio now not only has full ownership of Oyu Tolgoi – one of the largest copper deposits in the world – and in late March it also entered into an agreement with First Quantum Minerals to support the development of the La Granja copper project in Peru.
While Rio has owned the project since 2006, under a proposed joint venture, First Quantum would be able to acquire a 55 per cent stake in the project for $105 million, while committing up to $546 million to sole fund capital and take the project through a feasibility study and onto development.
“La Granja is an exciting but complex project that has the potential to be a significant new source of the copper that is needed for the energy transition,” Rio Tinto copper chief executive Bold Baatar said.
“This partnership underscores not only La Granja’s potential to be a significant copper producer, but Peru’s position as one of the world’s most important mining investment destinations.
“Developing La Granja would also further strengthen Rio Tinto’s copper portfolio following the acquisition of Turquoise Hill Resources and commencement of underground mining at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia.”
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