Rio Tinto today released its latest results for the first quarter of 2018, with an analysis of specific mines in iron ore, aluminium and copper.

Iron ore

With regard to iron ore, the Pilbara iron ore mine produced 83100 tons in the first quarter of 2018, 8 per cent higher than in the same period in 2017, thanks mainly to improved weather and continued productivity improvements throughout the integrated system.

Pilbala Regional Project

Rio Tinto has been pushing the rail system at the Pilbara iron ore mine, with about 65 per cent of trains operating in autopilot mode at the end of the quarter, covering an area of 3 million kilometres. The project continues to make progress in the regulatory approval process and is scheduled to be fully updated by the end of 2018.

Rio Tinto expects shipments from the Pilbara mine area to remain between 3.3 million and 340 million tonnes in 2018, depending on market conditions and climate change, of course.

Aluminum

Bauxite ore

Rio Tinto's bauxite production was 12700 tonnes in the first quarter of 2018, 12 per cent higher than in the first quarter of 2017, driven mainly by business improvements. Production at Rio's Gove aluminium mine was up 31 per cent from the first quarter of 2017, 8 per cent higher than the same period a year earlier and 5 per cent higher than the same period a year earlier, as a result of the de-bottleneck effect of the material handling system.

Alumina

Rio Tinto's aluminium production fell 5 per cent in the first quarter of 2018 compared with the same period last year. The decline was mainly due to the shutdown of the Becancour aluminium smelter and the power accident at the Dunkerque smelter.

Rio Tinto's share of bauxite production in 2018 is expected to be in the range of 4900 to 51 million tonnes, while alumina is expected to be in the range of 800 to 8.2 million tonnes. Rio Tinto also said it would adjust its annual aluminum target of 3.5 million to 3.7 million tons after completing sales to the Dunkerque and ISAL smelters. The adjustment is also related to the timing of US sanctions against Rusal.

Refined aluminum

Rio Tinto's refined aluminium production fell 5 per cent in the first quarter of 2018 from a year earlier. The decline was mainly due to the shutdown of the Becancour aluminium smelter and the power accident at the Dunkerque smelter.

Rio Tinto's share of bauxite production in 2018 is expected to be in the range of 4900 to 51 million tonnes, while alumina is expected to be in the range of 800 to 8.2 million tonnes. Rio Tinto also said it would adjust its annual aluminum target of 3.5 million to 3.7 million tons after completing sales to the Dunkerque and ISAL smelters. The adjustment is also related to the timing of US sanctions against Rusal.

Copper

Kennecott copper mine

Rio Tinto said production at its Kennecott copper mine fell 20 per cent in the first quarter of 2018 from a year earlier. But its refined copper production rose 19 per cent in the first quarter of 2018 from a year earlier, and Rio Tinto has focused on optimizing smelter utilization, receiving 41000 tonnes of concentrate in the first quarter of 2018.

Escondida copper mine

Escondida's copper production in the first quarter of 2018 was significantly higher than in the first quarter of 2017, as trade union strikes severely affected production in the first half of 2017. Production at the mine has gradually returned to normal since the second half of 2017.

Oyu Tolgoi copper mine

Open-pit copper production at Oyu Tolgoi in the first quarter of 2018 was 2 per cent higher than in the same period in 2017, but down 14 per cent overall from the fourth quarter as Rio Tinto plans to close the mine in January 2018. The outbreak of transport protests between Mongolia and China at the mine prevented the, Oyu Tolgoi Copper Mine, the main transport route in the Ganquimaodu border area, from declaring force majeure on its relevant customer contracts between January 17, 2018 and March 1, 2018. However, during the force majeure period, the underground mining work of the mine has not been greatly affected.

Grasberg copper mine

Through a joint venture agreement with Freeport- mcmoran, Rio Tinto will have a 40 per cent production share of the Grasberg copper mine by the end of 2021. However, as the two sides have not yet agreed on the force majeure clause in the contract, the production of the mine will not begin until 2021, so its production data is still zero.

Rio Tinto expects its share of copper production to remain between 510000 and 610000 tonnes in 2018 and refined copper production to be between 225000 and 265000 tonnes.