Rio Tinto's Q3 iron ore sales reached 90.8 million tonnes, Mongolia copper mine output up 27%

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 14, Rio Tinto released its 2026 third-quarter production and operations report. Global iron ore sales reached 90.8 million tonnes, up 3% year-on-year, of which sales from the Pilbara region in Australia were 85.7 million tonnes, up 2% year-on-year. During the same period, output at the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia rose 27% year-on-year, with cumulative growth of 29% in the first three quarters of the year. The group's consolidated copper production in the third quarter was 205,000 tonnes, with full-year production guidance maintained at 800,000 to 870,000 tonnes.

In the iron ore business, Rio Tinto's global iron ore production in the third quarter was 89.7 million tonnes, up 2% year-on-year, with cumulative production of 259.6 million tonnes in the first three quarters, up 4% year-on-year. Pilbara production in the quarter was 83.4 million tonnes, down 1% year-on-year, with cumulative production of 245.7 million tonnes in the first three quarters, up 3% year-on-year. The company maintained its 2026 global iron ore sales guidance of 343 million to 366 million tonnes, with the Pilbara region's full-year sales target at 323 million to 338 million tonnes.

In the copper business, Oyu Tolgoi's third-quarter copper production reached approximately 114,000 tonnes, corresponding to an annualized production rate of about 450,000 tonnes. The underground mine continued to increase extraction volumes, with ore recovery rates improving; a planned concentrator shutdown for maintenance in the same period of 2025 also affected the year-on-year base. The mine is currently continuing development of the Panel 0 and Panel 2 North underground mining areas, and will subsequently advance Panel 2 South. The transfer of the Entrée mining license involving Panel 1 is being coordinated by the Mongolian government and project stakeholders, with the area planned as a future production block.

The Simandou iron ore project in Guinea achieved an annualized production rate of approximately 10 million tonnes in the third quarter, with the mine continuing to ramp up capacity. Rio Tinto maintained its target of reaching an annualized capacity of 60 million tonnes in the second half of 2028, calculated on a 100% project equity basis. The company's 2026 iron ore sales forecast for Simandou is 5 million to 10 million tonnes.

In other mineral products, Rio Tinto's third-quarter alumina production was approximately 2.1 million tonnes, up 10% year-on-year; bauxite production was 15.7 million tonnes, down 4% year-on-year. Lithium production in the first three quarters, calculated on a lithium carbonate equivalent basis, was 40,300 tonnes, up 33% year-on-year, with full-year production expected to be at the low end of the guidance range of 61,000 to 64,000 tonnes. The Fenix 1B project in Argentina continued to ramp up capacity, and the Kennecott copper mine in the United States completed the rebuild of its flash smelting furnace ahead of schedule at the end of August.

Regarding capital and production efficiency arrangements, Rio Tinto disclosed that more than US$2 billion in capital release measures had been announced in the first three quarters of 2026, part of the group's total US$5 billion to US$10 billion capital optimization program. The company plans to announce cumulative related measures of approximately US$5 billion by the end of 2026, and expects the annualized production efficiency improvement benefit to reach a run-rate level of US$1.8 billion by then.