Rio Tinto announced strong
iron ore production through the third quarter ended September, while
coking coal production fell.
The company announced that Hamersley
iron ore operations in Western
Australia's Pilbara region increased
production 12 percent to 22.2 million metric tons. Total
production in the region through the first nine months increased 18 percent year on year to 63.7 million metric tons.
Meanwhile, the companys Robe joint venture produced 13.9 million metric tons of ore thanks to the completion of West Angelas expansion project, which increased capacity to 25 million metric tons per year.
However, in the third quarter,
Rio Tintos
coking coal production dropped 15 percent to 1.7 million metric tons, affected by lower output at the Kestral mine due to unstable ground conditions and capacity constraints.