Mining corporation Rio Tinto has reported a strong quarterly production performance and a wave of productivity improvements. Only mined copper production was lower, guidance has been revised.
Pilbara iron ore shipments were 85.8 mill. t in the third quarter (100 % basis), assiste[ds_preview]d by improved rail capacity and performance. This was 6 % higher than the third quarter of 2016, which was impacted by shiploader maintenance. Quarterly bauxite production was 12.9 mill. t for a second consecutive quarter, 4 % more than the third quarter of 2016, driven by strong performances at Gove and Weipa. Third party shipments for the third quarter were 8.2 mill. t. Bauxite production guidance is revised to between 50 and 51 mill. t (previously 48 to 50 mill. t).
Mined copper production was 3 % lower than the corresponding quarter of 2016 due to lower copper head grades at Rio Tinto Kennecott and Oyu Tolgoi. Mined copper guidance is revised to between 460,000 and 480,000 t (previously 500,000 to 550,000 t) following the third quarter impact of the delayed ramp-up of the Escondida expansion, and fourth quarter mine sequencing changes at Rio Tinto Kennecott. Titanium dioxide slag production increased by 23 % compared to the third quarter of 2016, reflecting higher market demand.
Over 8 bn $ of cash returns in 2017
As announced on 1 September 2017, Rio Tinto completed the sale of Coal & Allied to Yancoal Australia for total consideration of 2.69 bn $. On 21 September 2017, Rio Tinto announced a new 2.5 bn $ share buy-back, comprised of a 700 mill. A$ (approximately 560 mill. $) off-market buy-back tender in Rio Tinto Limited shares, and an additional 1.9 bn. $ of on-market purchases of Rio Tinto plc shares.
Rio Tinto chief executive J-S Jacques said: »The business performed very well in the September quarter, with a strong quarterly production performance and a wave of productivity improvements embedded through our operations. In particular, we are making good progress with further improvements to our world-class Pilbara iron ore business, including the opening of the Silvergrass mine and the implementation of AutoHaul. We continue to shape our asset portfolio and announced 2.5 bn $ of additional returns to shareholders from the proceeds of the Coal & Allied sale, demonstrating the robustness of our strategy and ability to invest in high-value growth whilst returning excess cash to shareholders. We have announced over 8 bn $ of cash returns in 2017.«
