Rio Tinto’s copper output rises 15pc on year in Apr-Jun

Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto produced 229,000t of copper — including copper in concentrate and refined metal — in April-June 2025, up 15pc on the year, driven by record high output from its Oyu Tolgoi underground mine in Mongolia.

The company maintained its 2025 copper production guidance range at 780,000-850,000t, but now expects output to sit in the upper end of the band, it said in a quarterly report on 16 July.

Rio Tinto's Oyu Tolgol mine hit a record high production of 87,000t of copper in concentrate at in April-June, up 65pc on the year (see table). The company plans to ramp up production at the mine over the next few years and reach an average of 500,000 t/yr of copper by 2028-2036.

Rio Tinto's copper concentrate production at its Escondida mine in Chile, which is operated by Australian producer BHP, reached 87,000t on an equity basis in April-June, up 4pc on the year because of increased mining. The increase came despite a drop in ore grades at the open-pit copper mine to 0.95pc Cu from 0.99pc Cu a year ago.

Rio Tinto's copper refining operations slowed at the Escondida mine and the Kennecott mine in the US. Geotechnical challenges at the integrated copper mining operation in Kennetcott, located just outside Salt Lake City in Utah, decreased the volume of concentrates available for refining. This pushed down the site's refining output by 16pc on the year.

Rio Tinto is expanding the Kennetcott mine capacity by 250,000 t/yr by building an underground infrastructure. The expansion is expected to be completed by end of 2025.

By Avinash Govind