Rio Tinto releases solid fourth quarter production results

Rio Tinto released solid fourth quarter production results despite the challenging market conditions.

Rio Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh said Rio Tinto remained focused on operating and commercial excellence against the industry's "challenging market backdrop". "In 2015, we delivered efficient production, meeting our targets across all of our major products, while rigorously controlling our cost base," he said. "We will continue to focus on disciplined management of costs and capital to maximise cash flow generation throughout 2016."

Highlights for Aluminium Business

• Continued strong performance in bauxite exceeded full year guidance of 43 million tonnes, with record third party shipments of 26.6 million tonnes.
• Aluminium production was in line with 2014, with record annual production at nine smelters offsetting lower production from Kitimat as the modernised and expanded smelter was commissioned.

Rio's Boyne Smelter produced 579,000 tonnes in 2015, an increase from the 2014 total of 553,000 tonnes. The company's Australian smelters, in Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania, produced a total of 1.349 million tonnes, while the global total for Rio was 4.898 million.

A total of 43.7 million tonnes of bauxite was produced during 2015, a four per cent increase on 2014, with record production from the company's Weipa mine and a ramp-up of the Gove mine, which has now reached production and export capacity of eight million tonnes per annum of dry bauxite.