News
Rio Tinto
Tue, 17 Jan 2012RIO Tinto has easily beaten its full year iron ore production guidance but copper output was hampered by industrial action.
Chief executive Tom Albanese said production across the group had bounced back from severe weather in the first half.
The mining giant's global iron ore operations produced a record 65 million tonnes (Mt) of the steel-making commodity in the three months to December 31, bringing full year output to 245 Mt.
The company had forecast iron ore output of 240 Mt for calendar 2011, while UBS analysts expected 242 Mt.
Full year iron ore shipments totalled a record 239 Mt but were below actual production levels due to extreme weather in Western Australia's Pilbara region in the first half.
Rio Tinto said in a statement on Tuesday that the expansion of its Pilbara mines to 283 Mt by the end of 2013 remained on track.
