Sydney: Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto on Tuesday lifted the planned capacity for its iron ore operations in a remote region of Australia, as it announced record production in 2012. As commodity prices have rebounded from steep falls in 2012, driven by renewed Chinese demand, Rio said it aimed to expand output in the resource-rich Pilbara region to 360 million tonnes per year by mid-2015. Previous projections had been for 353 million tonnes within this timeframe. In its fourth quarter operations review, the miner said iron ore production for the full year was a record 253 million tonnes, four percent higher than 2011. The Pilbara operations in northern Western Australia state achieved record annual production of 239 million tonnes in 2012, also four percent higher than the previous year, it said.
Business | Construction
Rio Tinto to hike iron ore production in Australian region
As it announced record production in 2012
- AFP
- Published: 15:00 January 15, 2013
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