Rio Tinto releases third quarter production results
October 16 2023 - 5:31PM
Business Wire
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said: “We delivered
another quarter of progress and maintained momentum at our Pilbara
iron ore operations. We continued to make good headway ramping up
our Oyu Tolgoi high-grade underground copper mine, our Kitimat
aluminium smelter returned to full production, and we safely
restarted the smelter and refinery at Kennecott after completing
the largest rebuild in its history. We have more to do as we work
towards sustainable performance improvements across our
business.
“We took real steps to build our portfolio of materials needed
for the future, signing agreements that will see us take a leading
position in recycled aluminium in North America and agreeing to
enter a joint venture with Codelco to explore for copper in Chile.
We also completed further infrastructure agreements with our
partners for the world class Simandou iron ore project.
“We are making strong progress towards building the Rio Tinto of
the future, striking a balance between disciplined performance in
evolving market conditions, investing to generate valuable
long-term growth and delivering attractive shareholder
returns.”
Production*
Q3
2023
vs Q3
2022
vs Q2
2023
9 MTHS
2023
vs 9 MTHS
2022
Pilbara iron ore shipments (100% basis)
(Mt)
83.9
+1%
+6%
245.5
+5%
Pilbara iron ore production (100%
basis) (Mt)
83.5
-1%
+3%
244.0
+4%
Bauxite (Mt)
13.9
+2%
+3%
39.5
-5%
Aluminium (kt)
828
+9%
+2%
2,427
+9%
Mined Copper (consolidated basis)
(kt)
169
+5%
+17%
460
+1%
Titanium dioxide slag (kt)
247
-20%
-19%
835
-5%
IOC** iron ore pellets and concentrate
(Mt)
2.4
-14%
+16%
7.0
-10%
*Rio Tinto share unless otherwise
stated
**Iron Ore Company of Canada
Q3 2023 operational highlights and other key
announcements
- Our all-injury frequency rate of 0.36 improved from the third
quarter of 2022 (0.39), and was in line with the prior quarter
(0.36). We continue to learn from process safety reviews completed
in the third quarter following previously reported incidents at our
Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium (RTIT) Sorel-Tracy complex and
Kennecott, and are planning to further enhance safety at these
operations.
- Pilbara operations produced 83.5 million tonnes (100% basis) in
the third quarter, 1% lower than the corresponding period of 2022.
Shipments were 83.9 million tonnes (100% basis), 1% higher than
the corresponding period of 2022. We continue to expect full year
shipments in the upper half of the original 320 to 335 million
tonne range.
- In early October, we hosted a site tour of our Pilbara
operations for investors and analysts. Presentation materials for
this visit are available on our website.
- Bauxite production of 13.9 million tonnes was 2% higher than
the third quarter of 2022 as we achieved the initial benefits of
stabilising our operations, particularly at Weipa where equipment
reliability and performance improved.
- Aluminium production of 0.8 million tonnes was 9% higher than
the third quarter of 2022 as we returned to full capacity at our
Kitimat smelter and completed cell recovery efforts at our Boyne
smelter. All our other smelters continued to demonstrate stable
performance during the quarter.
- On 21 July, we announced we had entered into an agreement with
Giampaolo Group, one of North America's largest fully-integrated
metal management businesses, to form a joint venture to manufacture
and market recycled aluminium products. Under the terms of the
agreement, Rio Tinto will acquire a 50% equity stake in Giampaolo
Group’s wholly-owned Matalco business for $700 million subject to
usual closing adjustments. Matalco operates six facilities in the
United States and one in Canada, with the capacity to produce
approximately 900,000 tonnes of recycled aluminium per annum.
Receipt of customary regulatory approvals for the transaction is
progressing well, with completion now expected around the end of
2023 (previously first half of 2024).
- Mined copper production of 169 thousand tonnes (on a
consolidated basis), was 5% higher than the third quarter of 2022
as we benefited from the continued ramp-up of the high grade
underground mine at Oyu Tolgoi and higher copper feed grades at
Escondida. These benefits were partially offset by lower production
at Kennecott, as the concentrator returned to full capacity during
the period, recovering from the conveyor failure which occurred in
March 2023.
- Refined copper production of 34 thousand tonnes, was 37% lower
than the third quarter of 2022 as we completed the largest rebuild
of the smelter and refinery in Kennecott’s history during the
quarter. The ~$300 million rebuild incorporated approximately 300
engineering and maintenance projects, and a workforce of ~3,200.
The refinery and smelter were safely restarted during the period,
with production expected to ramp up during the fourth quarter. The
scope of works included a rebuild of the flash converting furnace,
which was restarted late in the third quarter.
- On 11 August, Simfer concluded key agreements with the Republic
of Guinea and Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) on the
trans-Guinean infrastructure for the Simandou project. The
Co-Development Convention with the Republic of Guinea and
associated agreements create the legal framework for the
co-development of more than 600 kilometres of new multi-use rail
together with port facilities. During the period, Simfer and WCS
also signed an investment agreement in relation to the construction
of the Trans-Guinean railway and port infrastructure. Investments
into the infrastructure joint venture vehicle remain subject to a
number of conditions, including the finalisation and approval of
the feasibility study and capital funding requirements for the
project by all partners, and regulatory approvals.
- On 1 August, we announced the agreement to purchase PanAmerican
Silver’s stake in Agua de la Falda S.A. (“Agua de la Falda”), a
company with exploration tenements in Chile’s prospective Atacama
region, and to enter a joint venture with Corporación Nacional del
Cobre de Chile (“Codelco”) to explore and potentially develop Agua
de la Falda's assets.
- Titanium dioxide slag production of 247 thousand tonnes was 20%
lower than the third quarter of 2022. Two furnaces at our RTIT
Quebec Operations remain offline following process safety incidents
in June and July which we are currently investigating.
- IOC production of 2.4 million tonnes, was 14% lower than the
third quarter of 2022 as operations were impacted by extended plant
downtime and conveyor belt failures, while we also recovered from
wildfires which took place in Northern Quebec in the prior quarter.
Given these challenges our full year production guidance has been
reduced to 9.3 to 9.8 million tonnes (previously 10.0 to 11.0
million tonnes).
- In the third quarter, we commenced deployment of the Safe
Production System at a further two sites, taking the total to 22
sites. The Safe Production System focuses on continuously improving
safety, strengthening employee engagement and sustainably lifting
operational performance across our global portfolio. While we still
have a lot to do to see sustainable improvement, site deployments
are rolling out according to plan and we expect to be at the upper
end of our range of four to eight new sites in 2023.
- On 9 August, we announced the signing of a multi-year supply
agreement for high grade direct reduction iron ore pellets from
IOC’s operations with H2 Green Steel, an industrial startup
establishing large scale production of green steel.
- On 5 September, we announced the appointment of Jérôme Pécresse
to lead our Aluminium business, succeeding Ivan Vella. Jérôme, who
was until recently President and CEO of General Electric (GE)
Renewable Energy, will join Rio Tinto on 23 October 2023. Jérôme is
a French citizen with over 30 years of business experience,
including senior leadership roles in global companies in the mining
and energy fields.
All figures in this report are unaudited. All currency figures
in this report are US dollars, and comments refer to Rio Tinto’s
share of production, unless otherwise stated.
The full third quarter production results are available
here.
This announcement is authorised for release to the market by
Andy Hodges, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.
LEI: 213800YOEO5OQ72G2R82
Classification: 3.1 Additional regulated information required to
be disclosed under the laws of a Member State
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