Rio Tinto Group Announces the Production Results for the Fourth Quarter and Full Year of 2021
January 17, 2022 at 04:23 pm EST
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Rio Tinto Group announced the production results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2021. For the full year, Pilbara iron ore production of 319.7 million tonnes (100% basis) was 4% lower than 2020. Bauxite production of 54.3 million tonnes was 3% lower than 2020 due to severe wet weather in the first quarter impacting system stability throughout the year, equipment reliability issues and overruns on planned shutdowns at Pacific operations. Aluminium production of 3.2 million tonnes was 1% lower than 2020 due to reduced capacity at Kitimat smelter in British Columbia following the strike which commenced in July 2021. The labour union and employees have reached an agreement with controlled restart in 2022. Mined copper production of 494,000 tonnes was 7% lower than 2020 due to lower recoveries and throughput at Escondida as a result of the prolonged impact of COVID-19, partly offset by higher recoveries and grades at Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia and Kennecott in the US. Titanium dioxide slag production of 1,014 thousand tonnes was 9% lower than 2020 as a result of community disruptions and subsequent curtailment of operations at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) coupled with unplanned maintenance and equipment reliability issues at Rio Tinto Fer et Titane (RTFT) in Canada. Production of pellets and concentrate at Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) was 6% lower than 2020 due to prolonged labour and equipment availability issues impacting product feed and various other operational challenges throughout the year.
For the quarter, Pilbara iron ore production was 84.1 million tonnes, Bauxite was 13.1 million tonnes, Aluminium 757,000 tonnes, Mined Copper was 132,000 tonnes, Titanium dioxide slag 228,000 tonnes.
Rio Tinto plc is one of the world's leaders in mining research, prospecting and operating. Net sales break down by family of products as follows:
- iron ore (59%): 283.2 Mt produced in 2022;
- aluminum, alumina and bauxite (24.9%): 54.6 Mt bauxite, 7.5 Mt alumina and 3 Mt aluminum produced;
- copper (5.8%) : 521.1 Kt produced;
- industrial minerals (4.8%): titanium dioxide pigments (1,200 Kt produced), borates (532 Kt produced) and salts (5.7 Mt produced);
- diamonds (1.5%) : 4.7 million carats produced;
- gold (1%) : 235,000 ounces produced;
- other (3%): uranium, silver, zinc and molybdenum.
Net sales are distributed geographically as follows: the United Kingdom (0.3%), Europe (6.5%), China (54.3%), Japan (7.4%), Asia (7.1%), the United States (15.9%), Canada (3.1%), Australia (1.9%) and other (3.5%).