Australia-based mining giant Rio Tinto has set out its breakthrough plan to optimize the growth of its iron ore business in Western Australia. Accordingly, mine production capacity will rapidly increase towards 360 million mt per year at a significantly lower capital cost per metric ton than originally planned.
Rio Tinto stated that, from a base run rate of 290 million mt per year by the end of the first half of 2014, mine production capacity will increase by more than 60 million mt per year between 2014 and 2017. The majority of the low-cost growth will be delivered in the next two years with mine production of more than 330 million mt in 2015.
This growth will be achieved primarily through a combination of expanding production at existing mines and securing further low-cost productivity gains, together with the proposed future development of the greenfield Silvergrass mine. The additional production will be achieved at a cost of US$120-130/mt, including the cost of infrastructure growth and mine capacity.