The Australian-British mining and metallurgical concern Rio Tinto intends to increase copper production to 1 million tonnes per year by the end of the decade.
One of the world's largest mining companies has announced a development strategy aiming to invest in a "stronger, diversified and growing portfolio."
According to the company's CEO Jakob Stausholm who was speaking at a seminar for investors in London, a key element of the plan to increase production is the expansion of production at the flagship copper deposit Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, where production is expected to increase by more than 50% this year. This will be possible due to the ongoing increase of underground work at the deposit, which will allow to extract of higher-quality copper ore in the coming years, the concern said.
Rio Tinto predicts that production will be able to increase to 720 thousand tonnes this year, and next year it could reach 850 thousand tonnes. In addition to Oyu Tolgoi, the company mines at Kennecott in the United States and Escondida in Chile. It has promising projects in Australia and the United States as well. The company increased its overall investment forecast for the 2025 financial year to $11 billion, which is $1 billion more than previous estimates.
In addition, according to Stausholm, Rio Tinto is paying special attention to portfolio diversification, implementing large projects for the extraction of iron ore, aluminum and lithium. The company expects iron ore supplies at the concern's flagship enterprise in the Pilbara to remain stable at 323-338 million tons. In lithium, the company recently made a $6.7 billion offer to buy lithium company Arcadium, a move that is intended to accelerate Rio Tinto’s growth in the electric vehicle supply business.
The company recently began lithium mining at the Rincon 3000 project in Argentina and is planning a major expansion. Rio Tinto also announced the discovery of initial mineral and ore reserves at the Salar del Rincon lithium brine deposits in Argentina.
Hélène Tarin, Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Bureau, Rough&Polished
