Rio Tinto has reported flat iron ore output for the June 2012 qtr from a year ago and says it’s on track for 283Mtpa by the end of 2013, despite concerns over cooling growth in top metals consumer China.
The world's second biggest iron ore miner, which recently committed $US3.7B to expand its production capacity by 25%, said even with a deterioration in global economic conditions in the second quarter, its expansion projects still stack up.

Rio Tinto has awarded a $A30M mine services infrastructure contract for its Marandoo Mine Phase 2 project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia to Decmil Australia. The contract involves construction of a workshop, offices, refuelling, wash down and storage facilities as well as staff amenities.
The contract award follows February’s announcement of a a milestone five-year framework agreement covering early contractor involvement for Decmil in Rio’s expanding Pilbara iron ore interests.

Rio Tinto has reached a tentative agreement with representatives of unionized workers at the Alma aluminium smelter.
A total of 780 workers at the 438,000tpa smelter, in Quebec, northeast Canada, have been locked out since January 1, when contract negotiations broke down.
The agreement between the company and representatives will be presented to employees in a general assembly to be held over the next few days.
A ratification vote will be held at a meeting later this week.

 Resurgent nationalism in mineral-rich Mongolia, which will vote for a new government this week, will irk foreign investors, but is unlikely to wreck sentiment, with politicians still desperate to keep the dollars flowing in.
Foreign investment in Mongolia’s much coveted mines, like the $US7B Oyu Tolgoi copper project, helped expand the economy at the fastest pace in all of Asia last year. But many of the country's 3M voters say the bulk of the nation's new wealth still lies in the hands of the political elite.