Rio Tinto Group
Rio Tinto Group
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Global miner Rio Tinto has credited a strong recovery from significant operational disruptions and infrastructure damage by tropical cyclone Damien in Feb after posting March qtr (Q1) shipments of 72.9Mt at its West Australian iron ore operations, down from 85.5Mt in the previous qtr.
With demand for high-quality iron ores remaining strong, mainly driven by seaborne supply disruptions and solid Chinese demand, Rio maintained its FY2020 guidance at 324-334Mt.
West Australian multi-disciplinary engineer has won non-process infrastructure contract variations worth a combined $A20M at iron ore major Rio Tinto’s Koodaideri and Mesa K operations.
At Rio’s $US2.6B Koodaideri development, Primero has been awarded optional additions under the $A115M EPC contract awarded in Dec 2019 with overall completion date remaining mid-2021.
Rio Tinto is reducing operations on two continents as miners around the world respond to government restrictions designed to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. The company says it’s too soon to calculate production losses.
In South Africa, Rio will halt all production at its Richards Bay Minerals sands operation from midnight March 26 to comply with a 21-day shutdown ordered by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Leading South African-based engineer Murray & Roberts says travel restrictions and supply chain constraints exacerbated by COVID-19 restrictions have brought Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold underground mine development in Mongolia to a near-standstill.
M&R has demobilised or sent on leave many of the RUC Cementations Mining workforce in a JV sinking two large shafts to 1,150m as part of Rio Tinto’s $US5B-plus project.
Rio Tinto has halted all operations at its giant Kennecott copper project in Utah, USA following a 5.7-magnitude earthquake about 10 miles west of Salt Lake City and 30 miles NE of the mine. All employees were safely evacuated.
The company says it's identified limited damage so far. Detailed assessments being conducted with emergency services and state authorities include inspections of the historic South (Magna) tailings storage dam.
Coronavirus restrictions on the movement of goods and people within Mongolia threaten to further delay completion of the vital underground expansion of the Rio Tinto-operated Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine.
Rio Tinto has warned that restrictions on the movement of goods and people introduced by the Mongolian government to contain the spread of COVID-19 are slowing progress on the $US6.5-7.2B underground expansion of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold mine in the Southern Gobi desert.
Australian miner IGO is accelerating its exploration involvement in WA’s Paterson Province, committing to sole-fund $A15M of work over 7 years to earn a 70% interest in Encounter Resources’ Yeneena copper-cobalt project.
IGO has exercised its option after an extensive program it funded under the companies’ Nov 2018 agreement and using advanced geophysical and geochemical techniques resulted in the definition of new, large-scale targets.
The potential of the coronavirus Covid-19 to create significant near-term uncertainty for business in the near term is weighing on the mind of global miner Rio Tinto while maintaining its FY2020 production guidance across its commodity range.
It comes as Rio posts strong financial results for FY2019, with net operating cashflow of $US14.91B (FY2018: $11.82B), free cashflow of $9.16B ($6.98B) and underlying EBITDA of $21.2B ($18.14B).
Rio Tinto has proposed building a 300MW coal-fired power station, at an estimated cost of $US924M, to meet its obligations to construct a domestic power source for the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia.
A feasibility study on the Tavan Tolgoi power plant by project operator Oyu Tolgoi LLC is part of a consultation process that includes alternative options including renewable power.