Rio Tinto announces a 4% Q-o-Q rise in bauxite production to 14.1 Mt in 2Q2022, attributing to strong operations at Weipa

Rio Tinto Group, an Anglo-Australian multinational metals and mining company, has announced the second quarter results of 2022, revealing a 4 per cent quarter-on-quarter increase and a 3 per cent  year-on-year rise in bauxite production to 14.1 million tonnes. According to the mining group, total production of bauxite during the first half of the year ended June 30 came in at 27.8 million tonnes – 2 per cent more than the previous year.

Rio Tinto has attributed the growth in bauxite production to the strong operational performance at Weipa as a result of improved plant reliability at Amrun.

Rio Tinto’s aluminium output in Q2 2022 was 731,000 tonnes after being inched down by 1 per cent from 1Q2022 and shrunk by 10 per cent from 2Q2021. Total output in the first six months of the year also decreased over the year by 9 per cent to 1.467 million tonnes.

Rio Tinto has highlighted in its results the focus on safety, health and wellbeing of workforce and communities. Their all-injury frequency rate in Q2 2022 was 0.35 per cent compared to 0.42 per cent a year ago.

Rio Tinto also successfully rolled out the Rio Tinto Safe Production System (RTSPS) in Q2 2022. Currently, it has 15 deployments across the business at 11 sites, with 30 rapid improvement projects (Kaizen) either complete or in progress.

The mining giant also entered into several partnerships and undertook some initiatives to decarbonise business and value chains, such as a strategic equity investment in Nano One – a clean technology innovator in battery materials.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive, Jakob Stausholm, said: “We strengthened our operational performance at a number of sites, which we will now replicate across the portfolio. The delivery of first ore at Gudai-Darri, our first greenfield mine in the Pilbara for over a decade, increases mine capacity and supports production of our flagship Pilbara Blend™. We also fired the first draw bell at the Oyu Tolgoi underground project in June, and started producing scandium and tellurium. These critical minerals are being extracted from existing waste streams at our titanium operation in Quebec and copper operation in Utah, without the need for new mining.”

He added, “We made progress against our four objectives during the first half and we are determined to further strengthen Rio Tinto while investing to grow in the commodities needed for the energy transition, decarbonise our portfolio, be a partner and employer of choice, maintain our tight capital allocation and continue to pay attractive dividends."