Rio Tinto: We are in state of ‘chronic unease’ over safety at our mines
The flagging Chinese real estate sector and serious injury frequencies across global sites have been highlighted by mining giant Rio Tinto in its Q4 2023 production results.
Despite a fifth year without a fatality, the mining giant today said that 2023 saw multiple injury incidents including two permanent disabling injuries.
Rio said it was “applying learnings to enhance processes across our operations”.
The company also pinned stimulus packages for the Chinese economy as drivers for a “gradual recovery” through 2024 despite key areas remaining weak.
In the world’s second-largest miner’s fourth quarter results for 2023, released today, the company said consumer goods and automotive strength in China was supporting a continually weak real estate sector that is not expected to recover in the short term, continuing to suppress demand for major miners like Rio.
Iron ore shipments in 2023 were up three per cent year on year to 331.8m metric tons (Mt), the mid-point of its guidance of 320 – 335m Mt and in line with analysts forecasts, but fourth-quarter shipments fell 1 per to 86.3m Mt.
Production of mined copper (on a consolidated basis) and aluminium was higher by 2 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.
Around 323 – 338 Mt iron ore is forecasted for the fiscal 2024 year as the the second largest miner in the world seeks to strengthen its iron-ore operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, including a $70m investment in the region’s newest mine.
But to account for the drag on production from China, Rio Tinto boosted exploration and evaluation activities last year to the tune of $855m compared with $706m in 2022.
This excludes activity on Simandou, Rio’s super-mine in Guinea that it claims is the largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit in the world, with an expected total yield of around 2.8bn tonnes.
In December, the company announced the acceleration of the construction of the $6.2bn (£4.9bn) site as part of a plan to boost capital spending to $30bn (£28.3bn) over the next three years.
Investors initially reacted poorly to the results, with the company’s share price falling 1.29 per cent at the market opening today.
Production of mined copper (on a consolidated basis) and aluminium was higher by two per cent and nine per cent respectively in 2023, while around 323 – 338 Mt iron ore is forecasted for the fiscal 2024 year.
Rio also said it intends to strengthen its iron-ore operations in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, including a $70m investment in its newest mine.
The company added that it remained in a state of “chronic unease” over safety incidents at its global sites.
These include two permanent disabling injuries in 2023, from which the company said it was “applying learnings to enhance processes across our operations”.