Weipa and Gove drive record bauxite production for Rio in Q3 2016

Rio reported record bauxite production in the third quarter resulting in a total bauxite output of 35.6 million tonnes during the first three quarters of 2016. This recorded an 11 per cent increase in YTD aluminium production than the same period of 2015. The strong bauxite sector performance was primarily driven by increased production in Weipa and Gove.

Weipa bauxite production recorded a five per cent increase benefited from increased plant output.  Gove production was up 25 per cent and the plant continued to deliver system improvements resulting in a ten million tonne annual production run rate in the third quarter. Notably, this record bauxite production performance enabled Rio Tinto to ship 22 million tonnes of bauxite to third parties during the period from January to September 2016, ten per cent above the same period of 2015.

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The Amrun Bauxite Project at Cape York is developing fast in both engineering and construction. US$1.9 billion has been invested in the project to build a mine and port to expand production from one of the world’s premier bauxite deposits. The access road is expected to complete by December 2016 and works underway to make the river terminals operational by early 2017. The all-round development of the site is going on with the construction of the permanent surrounding village going on full swing.