Rio Tinto ships first iron ore from newly expanded port

Australia-based miner Rio Tinto has announced that it has achieved a significant milestone by loading the first shipment of iron ore from its expanded port, rail and mine operations in Australia. This also marks the commencement of commissioning of the expansion program, which will increase the overall capacity for Rio Tinto's iron ore operations in Western Australia to 290 million mt per year.
 
The shipment of 165,000 mt of Pilbara iron ore bound for Japanese steelmaker Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corporation's Kimitsu works in Tokyo left from the new Cape Lambert wharf.
 
According to Rio Tinto, the phase two expansion of the port, rail and power infrastructure to 360 million mt per year is underway. A number of options for mine capacity growth are under evaluation including incremental tonnage from further low-cost productivity improvements, expansion of existing mines and the potential development of new mines.