Rio Tinto plans to raise Gudai-Darri iron ore mine output

The world's largest iron ore producer Rio Tinto is looking to bolster production capacity at its Gudai-Darri iron ore mine in Pilbara, Western Australia, to 50 million tonnes/year from 43 million t/y through incremental productivity gains, the company said in an official release on October 18.

Around $70 million is planned to be spent for the capacity increase, which will be achieved through upgrades in the plant including chutes and conveyor belts, and the utilization of an existing incremental crushing and screening facility already on site, according to the release.

Despite this, "the capacity increase is subject to environmental, heritage and other relevant approvals," the miner added.

The Gudai-Darri mine, Rio's first greenfield mine in the Pilbara region in more than a decade, started construction in 2019 and delivered its maiden ore in June 2022, as reported. Also, the mine that produces the company's flagship Pilbara Blend product continued to ramp up capacity and reached its prior nameplate capacity of 43 million t/y in the second quarter of this year, Mysteel Global noted.

In the miner's latest quarterly report, the Pilbara iron ore shipments of 83.9 million tonnes (on a 100% basis) during July-September grew by 6% on quarter and 1% from the same quarter of last year, and the cumulative volume during the first nine months of 2023 was 5% higher on a yearly basis. And Rio Tinto attributed the improved performance to factors including the ramp-up of its Gudai-Darri mine.

Rio's annual shipment guidance for Pilbara iron ore in 2023 remained unchanged at the upper half of 320-335 million tonnes, the report said. But for next year, the shipments are expected to be higher at 323-338 million tonnes.

Written by Lea Li, liye@mysteel.com

Edited by Alyssa Ren, rentingting@mysteel.com

Note: This article has been written in accordance with an article exchange agreement between Mysteel Global and SteelMint.