By Rhiannon Hoyle


Rio Tinto, the world's No. 2 mining company by market value, on Thursday reported a drop in iron-ore production and shipments from its Australian mines. Fourth-quarter and full-year output and exports were all 1% weaker than the prior corresponding periods.

The company said it mined more copper--up 26% in the fourth quarter versus a year prior, and 13% for the full year versus 2023--and aluminum-rich bauxite--up 2% and 7%, respectively. Here are some remarks from Rio Tinto's fourth-quarter report.


On copper output:

"Mined copper production... in 2024 was 13% higher than 2023, reflecting the ramp up of Oyu Tolgoi underground and increased production from Escondida due to higher grades fed to the concentrator (0.99% versus 0.83%). This offset geotechnical challenges at Kennecott as instabilities in the pit wall impacted the mining sequence from the second quarter."


On Kennecott copper mine:

"Mined copper production was 35% lower than the fourth quarter of 2023. This was primarily due to reduced head grade caused by geotechnical instabilities in the pit wall that impacted the mining sequence and increased the usage of lower grade stockpiled ore. We are focusing on our overheads and contractor management costs while identifying efficiencies in our truck and excavator fleet.

We are also supplementing our smelter with third party concentrate to maintain throughput. Production will be impacted in 2025 and 2026 in line with the annualized mine production rate from the last three quarters of 2024, with slight improvement expected in 2026. Meanwhile, we continue to review future options for the open pit and underground."


On its Pilbara iron-ore mines:

"Mine productivity mostly offset depletion and higher than average rainfall, which was more than five times historical levels. As a result, mine stocks were drawn down, with operations in the first quarter of 2025 to focus on recovering pit health.

SP10 levels are expected to remain elevated until replacement projects are delivered. We are reviewing our future product strategy, having regard to customer requirements and available ore grades."


On Simandou iron-ore project:

"The SimFer mine is on track to deliver first production at the mine gate in 2025, ramping up over 30 months to an annualized capacity of 60 million tons per year (27 million tons per year Rio Tinto share). For the SimFer mine, bulk earthworks are progressing to plan, despite productivity being impacted by wet weather during the quarter. All mine construction contracts are complete, and the two initial crushers are now commissioned, with first ore crushed on Jan. 1, 2025."


On its bauxite mines:

"Implementation of the Safe Production System continued to drive higher plant availability and utilization rates, especially at our Amrun mine at Weipa. We remain focused on continued operational improvement as we enter a quarter typically impacted by wet weather."


On aluminum output:

"At our New Zealand Aluminium Smelter production continued to ramp-up following a previous call from Meridian Energy to reduce its electricity usage in August, for which we are compensated. As previously reported, we expect the ramp-up to run through to the second quarter of 2025. At Kitimat, our energy supply and production was impacted by lower reservoir levels."


On the iron-ore market:

"China's crude steel production recovered to an annualized run-rate of more than 1 billion tons, as elevated steel exports partly offset domestic demand weakness. Seaborne supply declined by circa 2% quarter on quarter in line with typical seasonality. China's iron ore inventories at 47 major ports drew down slightly during the quarter to 156 million tons, although this level is still 31 million tons higher than at the start of 2024."


Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

01-15-25 1933ET