UK’s biggest mining company Rio Tinto reported iron ore production until the third quarter increased 12 percent from last year. Increased production of iron ore produced from the combination of two mining company Rio Tinto. Two mining companies combined yaiut Plc and Rio Tinto Ltd. Rio Tinto.

Increased production of iron ore is not followed by increased production of bauxite and aluminum. Bauxite and aluminum production decreased, as the company to save money in response to falling demand. But the company saw an indication of recovery of demand in major markets.

In the third quarter, Rio Tinto’s share of iron ore production was 47.51 million tonnes, up from 42.40 million tonnes a year ago. Pilbara iron ore production in Australia was 57 million tonnes, up 18% from the prior year, reflecting strong iron ore markets with the mines consistently operating at above nameplate capacity rates. On an attributable basis, Pilbara iron ore production was 46 million tonnes.

Production from Hamersley increased 13% year-over-year to 34.84 million tonnes, Hope Downs production surged 97%, and Robe River production increased 12%. Meanwhile, Iron Ore Company of Canada, or IOC, production of pellets and concentrate fell 47%, reflecting a five week summer shutdown and the idling of pellet machines in response to weak market conditions.

Sales volumes from the Pilbara region of Western Australia reached 56 million tonnes during the third quarter, up 14% from the previous year. The company noted that shipments to all major markets, including the largest single market, China, were maintained at a high level and were primarily priced on a benchmark or its equivalent provisional basis.

Meanwhile, third-quarter production of bauxite fell 16% to 7.44 million tonnes and aluminium dropped 4% to 956 thousand tonnes, as continued production cutbacks occurred in the Aluminium group in response to the sharp fall in demand. Alumina production in the quarter edged up 1% to 2.21 million tonnes.

In the quarter, mined copper production climbed 24% from last year to 197.9 thousand tonnes, with higher production at all operations, in particular at Kennecott Utah Copper and Grasberg. Refined copper production grew 46% to 100.6 thousand tonnes, reflecting improved performance and higher concentrate grades at Kennecott Utah Copper and higher cathode production at Escondida.

In Kennecott Utah Copper, production of mined copper rose 9% to 75.8 thousand tonnes, and refined copper grew 67% to 67.6 thousand tonnes. Third-quarter mined copper from Escondida increased 7% to 78.2 thousand tonnes, while refined copper surged 35% to 25 thousand tonnes.

Rio Tinto’s share of diamond production for the quarter was 2.79 million carats, down 54% from the previous year. Third-quarter carat production at Argyle fell 51% to 2.27 million carats, and production at Diavik was 64% lower than the same quarter of 2008 due to the six week summer shutdown that occurred in July and August.

Third-quarter US thermal coal production at Rio Tinto Energy America declined 7% to 31.61 million tonnes, primarily due to the economic downturn which has reduced the demand for coal-fired power with some customers switching to natural gas.

Australian hard coking coal production from the Queensland coal operations was down 5% in the quarter to 2.08 million tonnes, following a planned longwall changeover at the Kestrel mine, while Australian thermal coal production increased 12% to 6.03 million tonnes, primarily attributable to higher production of semi-soft coal in line with improved demand from the steel industry.

Rio Tinto’s share of third quarter uranium production was 8% higher than the corresponding quarter of 2008. Energy Resources of Australia, or ERA, recorded a 12% rise in production, due to an improvement in plant utilization and throughput rates. Production recovered at Rössing following a 14 day planned shutdown in June 2009, and increased 2%.

Commenting on the operations results, Chief executive Tom Albanese said, “Our businesses continue to operate efficiently: iron ore production set a new quarterly record, with shipments to China maintained at a high level. We also benefited from higher third quarter production at all of our copper operations compared with last year. Cost reductions continue apace and we have made considerable progress on divestments this quarter enabling us to further reduce net debt.”

For the nine months of fiscal 2009, Rio Tinto’s share of iron ore production rose 2% to 124.32 million tonnes. Meanwhile, production of bauxite fell 16%, alumina dropped 2%, and aluminium production declined 5% from last year. Mined copper production grew 10% in the nine months, and refined copper production went up 33%. The company also recorded a 2% growth in hard coking coal production, 4% rise in other Australian coal production, while US coal production dropped 4% during the period. Nine-month production of diamonds also fell 31%.

The company noted that pre-tax and pre-divestment expenditure on exploration and evaluation charged to the profit and loss account for the first nine months of 2009 was US$356 million, compared with US$661 million in the same period of 2008. During the period, the company realized US$886 million, pretax, from the divestment of exploration properties, including US$818 million from the divestment of its undeveloped potash assets in Argentina and Canada.

Looking ahead, Albanese said, “We are seeing early signs of a recovery in some of our key markets, although we remain cautious about the near term outlook.”

For the fiscal year 2009, Rio Tinto lifted its iron ore production forecast, following a strong performance in the second and third quarters, and now expects production from its global operations, incorporating Australia, Canada and Brazil, to be between 210 and 215 million tonnes, provided there are no major seasonal weather disruptions. The company’s previous projection was around 200 million tonnes, with the recovery in Chinese steel demand expected to continue into the second half of 2009.

The company maintained that Rio Tinto Alcan’s global bauxite production in 2009 is expected to be about 31 million tonnes, a decline of 11% from 2008, and the company’s share of aluminium production is projected to be about 3.8 million tonnes, down 6% from last year.

For the year, Rio Tinto still expects its total share of mined and refined copper production to be 780 thousand tonnes and 420 thousand tonnes, respectively. The company continues to project Diavik to produce between 5 million and 6 million carats of rough diamonds in 2009.

Further, the company now projects a general decline in production volumes of approximately 20% to 25% across the Rio Tinto Iron & Titanium product portfolio in 2009, in comparison to previous forecast of about 14% decline.

Recently, Rio Tinto signed an Investment Agreement with the Government of Mongolia for the development of the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold complex. On Tuesday, Rio Tinto confirmed that it has given notice to complete the second tranche of its investment in Ivanhoe Mines Ltd., which will increase its holding to 19.7% from 9.9%. The company said Tranche 2 consists of 46.3 million shares at a subscription price of US$8.38, for a total consideration of US$388 million.

Rio Tinto also pointed out that it announced asset sales totaling US$4.1 billion during 2009. In addition, a binding offer was received from Amcor in August 2009 for US$2.025 billion for Alcan Packaging global pharmaceuticals, global tobacco, food Europe and food Asia divisions. Further, Rio Tinto successfully completed its US$15.2 billion rights issue in July, and the net proceeds of US$14.8 billion were used to pay down Group debt.

RTP closed Tuesday’s regular trading session at US$182.47, up US$1.22 or 0.67%, on a volume of 880,665 shares. In the past 52 weeks, shares have been trading in a broad range of US$59.20 to US$216.46.

On the London Stock exchange, RIO.L is currently trading at 2,939.50 pence, up 91.50 pence or 3.21%, on a volume of 1.1 million shares.

RIO.AX closed at A$63.25, up A$1.06 or 1.70%, on a 3 million share volume.

source : tradingmarkets.com

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