To smelter requirements during its planned shutdown
Rio Tinto produced 128,300 mt of copper from its mines across the globe, in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2014, the company said Tuesday, January 20.
The Q4 output was down 23% year on year and down 15% quarter on quarter.
For the whole year 2014, the production totaled 603,100 mt, up 4% from 2013, it said.
The total output was from its mines at Kennecott Utah in the US, Escondida in Chile, Grasberg in Indonesia and Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia.
The company said the volume of copper mined from Kennecott Utah for 2014 was comparable to 2013, but the quarterly output was lower due to lower grade and throughput as mine production was aligned to smelter requirements during its planned shutdown.
Kennecott Utah’s Q4 output was 20,500 mt, down 68% year on year and down 61% quarter on quarter. For 2014, the output was 204,300 mt, down 3% from 2013.
Output at Escondida was 88,900 mt in Q4, up 6% from Q4 2013, and up 5% from Q3 2014. For 2014, the production totaled 341,300 mt, up 1% year on year.
“Increased mill throughput during the year and increased ore stacked for leaching resulted in copper production being in line with 2013, despite lower grades,” the company said.
At the Oyu Tolgoi mine, the Q4 output was 16,900 mt, up 53% year on year and up 37% quarter on quarter.