By Robb M. Stewart
MELBOURNE--Rio Tinto PLC (RIO), which is developing one of the
world's largest mines in Mongolia, Thursday said the long-term
outlook for copper remains positive even though volatility in
commodity prices is likely to persist in the near term.
Demand for copper has "plenty of growth potential," Andrew
Harding, chief executive of the Anglo-Australian company's copper
division, said in a slide presentation released to coincide with a
resources conference in Hong Kong.
Mr. Harding said the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold project near
Mongolia's border with China is now 85% complete and on track for
first commercial production by 2013.
The first phase of the project's development will see the
construction of an open-pit mining operation, and will in time be
followed by underground development, expansion of the mill and the
building of a power station.
Rio is the operator of Oyu Tolgoi and majority owner of Ivanhoe
Mines Ltd. (IVN), which owns 66% of the project to the Mongolian
government's 34%. When fully operational, Oyu Tolgoi is forecast to
produce average 1.2 billion pounds of copper a year in the first 10
years, 650,000 troy ounces of gold and more than 3 million ounces
of silver.
Write to Robb M. Stewart at robb.stewart@wsj.com