UK-Australian metals firm Rio Tinto produced 883,000t of copper in 2025 on an equity basis, up by 11pc from 2024 and above its guidance range of 860,000-875,000t, largely because of the ramp up of its Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.
Rio Tinto plans to produce 800,000-870,000t of copper across its Chilean, US, and Mongolian operations in 2026, it said in a quarterly report on 21 January.
The company produced 345,000t of copper in concentrate at Oyu Tolgoi in 2025, up by 61pc on the year. The increase came from the ongoing, years-long ramp-up of the mine's underground area, it said.
Rio Tinto plans to produce 500,000 t/yr of copper in concentrate at the complex in 2028-36, it added.
The company produced 348,000t of copper in concentrate and 56,000t of refined copper at its Chilean Escondida complex — which Australian producer BHP manages — in 2025, up by 5.7pc and 1.8pc on the year respectively.
But that could change in 2026. Escondida's concentrator feed grade declined consistently over 2025, from 1.09pc in January-March to 0.91pc in October-December, data from BHP's October-December 2025 quarterly report show.
Rio Tinto's copper in concentrate output at Escondida fell by 9.7pc on the year from 92,900t to 83,900t in October-December 2025.
The company produced 134,000t of refined copper at its Kennecott project in Utah over 2025, down by 31pc from the previous year. It faced geotechnical challenges at the copper complex throughout the year.
Rio Tinto also closed Kennecott's smelter for 21 days in September and another 45 days in mid-October, it said.
The company aims to expand Kennecott's pit operation over 2026-32. It will also ramp up the complex's newly opened underground mine in 2026.
| Rio Tinto copper quarterly results | 000 t | |||||
| Oct-Dec '25 | Oct-Dec '24 | y-o-y ± % | 2025 | 2024 | y-o-y ± % | |
| Kennecott (refined) | 38.4 | 55.4 | -30.7 | 133.6 | 193.2 | -30.8 |
| Escondida (metal in concentrate) | 83.9 | 92.9 | -9.7 | 348.1 | 329.3 | 5.7 |
| Escondida (refined) | 14.0 | 13.3 | 5.3 | 56.1 | 55.1 | 1.8 |
| Oyu Tolgoi (metal in concentrate) | 103.9 | 66.3 | 56.7 | 345.2 | 215.0 | 60.6 |
| Total | 240.3 | 228.0 | 5.4 | 883.1 | 792.6 | 11.4 |
| —Rio Tinto | ||||||
