Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has reached an export milestone, shipping its three billionth metric ton of iron ore from its operations in the Pilbara region, Western Australia, highlighting the exponential growth of its Pilbara operations since its first shipment of the essential steelmaking ingredient from the region in 1966.
As per the company's statement, the three billionth metric ton was loaded on to the Pacific Ruby, a capesize vessel berthed at Rio Tinto's recently expanded Cape Lambert port. The 240,000 mt cargo consisted of iron ore from the Yandicoogina and Mesa J mines, and was bound for POSCO, the largest South Korean steel producer.
The miner operates 11 mines and three terminals at two ports in the Pilbara region. Rio Tinto, which is proposing to merge its iron ore operations with fellow giant miner BHP Billiton Ltd under a landmark deal, plans to export 200 million mt of iron ore in 2009, compared to 761,000 mt exported in 1966.
Rio Tinto's chief executive of Pilbara operations Greg Lilleyman said, "The rapid, exponential growth of Rio Tinto's Pilbara operations can be gauged by the fact that we took 25 years to ship our first billion tonnes, 12 years to reach our second billion tonnes, and now just six years to post our third billionth tonne."