Rio Tinto raises global copper output, cuts lithium

Market: Battery materials, Metals
21/04/26

UK-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto raised alumina and copper output in January-March but reported a sharp drop in lithium production due to weather-related disruptions, it said today.

Aluminium and alumina

Rio Tinto's attributable primary aluminium output in January-March rose by 1pc on the year, but fell by 2pc on the quarter, to 835,000t.

The company's alumina production increased by 6pc on the year to 2.04mn t over the same period. Bauxite production fell by 11pc to 13.28mn t, primarily owing to heavy rainfall at Weipa mine in Queensland, Australia, in January and February and cyclone-related shutdowns at Weipa and Gove mine in Northern Territory, Australia, in March.

Rio Tinto's recycled aluminium production declined by 8pc on the year to 61,000t.

Rio Tinto has kept its 2026 production guidance unchanged for primary aluminium at 3.25mn-3.45mn t, alumina at 7.6mn-8mn t and bauxite at 58mn-61mn t.

Copper

Rio Tinto's consolidated copper production rose by 9pc from a year earlier to 229,000t in January-March, driven by the continued ramp-up of copper in concentrates output from Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, which increased by 56pc to 102,000t over the same period.

Refined copper output at Escondida in Chile rose by 21pc to 16,000t, while concentrates output declined by 14pc to 77,000t in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

Refined copper production at Kennecott in the US fell by 20pc from a year earlier to 34,000t, owing to lower anode inventories following unplanned smelter maintenance and lower concentrator throughput caused by geotechnical constraints.

Drilling has also begun at the Resolution Copper project in Arizona following completion of the land exchange in March.

Rio Tinto maintained its full-year copper production guidance at 800,000-870,000t.

Lithium

Rio Tinto's attributable lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) production fell by 26pc on the year to 12,700t in the first quarter, because heavy rainfall and weather events disrupted operations at its Olaroz and Fenix sites in Argentina.

But the continued ramp-up at the Rincón starter plant in Argentina partly offset the production impacts.

Rio Tinto maintained its 2026 LCE production guidance at 61,000-64,000t, with first production from Fenix 1B and Sal de Vida on track for the second half of 2026.

By Candice Luo

Rio Tinto's 1Q26 metals output						attributable basis, '000t
Production	Q1 2026	Q1 2025	y-o-y	Q4 2025	Q-o-Q	2026 guidance

Iron ore	70,045	62,408	12%	80,515	-13%	NA
Primary aluminium	835	829	1%	852	-2%	3,250 – 3,450
Alumina	2,038	1,921	6%	1,969	4%	7,600 – 8,000
Bauxite	13,281	14,966	-11%	15,397	-14%	58,000 – 61,000
Copper (consolidated basis)	229	210	9%	240	-5%	800 – 870
Lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE)	12.7	17.2	-26%	15.4	-18%	61 – 64
Source: Rio Tinto

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