UK-Australian metals firm Rio Tinto produced 204,400t of copper in the July-September quarter, up 10pc on the year, as it ramped up operations at the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia.
The company kept its 2025 copper production guidance unchanged at the upper end of its 780,000-850,000t range in an operations review on 14 October.
Rio Tinto produced 89,200t of copper concentrate at Oyu Tolgoi in July-September up by 78pc on the year from 50,000t. It plans to ramp up copper production at the mine to 500,000 t/yr by 2028.
At its Kennecott mining complex in Utah, Rio Tinto produced 13,000t of refined copper during July-September, down 69pc on the year from 42,500t.
As the drop in production at Kennecott was offset by higher output in the Mongolian mine, Rio Tinto's overall copper output during the quarter rose year on year.
Production dropped at the Utah site because of a planned 21-day maintenance closure of its concentrator and a 45-day maintenance-related smelter shutdown that began in early September. The company may not be able to increase production at Kennecott during the October-December quarter because the smelter will remain shut.
Rio Tinto also advanced expansion works at the North Rim Skarn site. The copper production at the underground site will start by the end of 2025 and it will increase Kennecott's copper mining capacity by 250,000 t/yr.
| Rio Tinto copper production | 000 t | |||||
| July - September '25 | July - September '24 | Change (%) | January - September '25 | January - September '24 | YTD Change (%) | |
| Kennecott (refined copper) | 13 | 42 | -69 | 95 | 138 | -31 |
| Escondida (copper concentrate) | 88 | 81 | 9.0 | 264 | 236 | 12 |
| Escondida (refined copper) | 14 | 12 | 18 | 42 | 42 | 0.9 |
| Oyu Tolgoi (copper concentrate) | 89 | 50 | 78 | 241 | 149 | 62 |
| Total | 204 | 185 | 10 | 643 | 565 | 14 |
| Production on consolidated basis | ||||||
| Rio Tinto | ||||||
