Rio Tinto accelerates Pilbara iron ore expansion program

Australian mining giant Rio Tinto announced on June 15 that it has accelerated its iron ore expansion program in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. In 2010, Rio Tinto started a five-year program to increase iron ore output capacity in the Pilbara by 50 percent.
 
Accordingly, Rio Tinto is bringing forward a $676 million investment in port and rail infrastructure. Rio Tinto will not increase the overall cost of the expansion program by this move. As a result, an expanded annual capacity of 333 million mt will now be reached in the first half of 2015, six months earlier than planned. Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in the Pilbara currently have an annual capacity of 220 million mt, with advanced plans to increase capacity to 283 million mt by 2013.