The CEO of diversified miner Rio Tinto announced plans to scale down investment into non-core projects to preserve cash and manage its capital expenditures.
According to the company’s CEO Simon Trott, it will now focus more on its existing iron ore, copper, aluminium and lithium mines to become the world’s “most valued” miner and emerge “stronger, sharper and simpler.”
At the same time, Rio will restrict investment into lithium projects to those already underway, and any further expansion will depend on market conditions and returns.
Rio Tinto now gives more priority to copper mines, expecting its output to be up to 3% higher than prior estimates at 860,000 - 875,000 tonnes in 2025. By 2030, it targets the output of 1 million tonnes of copper per year.
The company expects capital expenditure to fall below $10.0 billion per year from 2028 as large project investments wind down. This will be supported by a sharp decrease in decarbonisation investments to $1 - $2 billion through 2030, down from an earlier $5 - $6 billion target.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
