EXTREME weather has taken its toll on Rio Tinto’s Pilbara iron ore operations.
In a notice to the Australian Stock Exchange, Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm said the company’s overall performance had been solid despite the Pilbara iron ore shipments expected to be at the lower end of guidance.
The seaborne supply of iron ore contracted by 3% year on year and into China fell 9% year on year because of extreme weather both in Australia and Brazil, the report said.
“We continued to see strong operational improvement with the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine and our bauxite operations delivering record months for production in March,” Mr Stausholm said.
“We are making excellent progress with our major projects to deliver profitable organic growth. We achieved first iron ore at Western Range in the Pilbara and the Simandou high-grade iron ore project in Guinea remains on track.
“After successful completion of the Arcadium acquisition in March, we are advancing to establish a world-class lithium business.”
Pilbara iron ore shipments at 70.7 million tonnes were 9% down on the same quarter in 2024.
The Pilbara was hit by four cyclones in the first quarter with repairs expected to cost around $150 million and the loss of around 13 million tonnes of ore being shipped.
The report said Rio Tinto had a strong portfolio of projects with activity in 17 countries across eight commodities in early exploration and studies stages.
The bulk of the exploration expenditure is focused on copper in Angola, Chile, Colombia, Peru and the US, lithium in Canada, Rwanda, Chile and Australia and diamonds in Angola.
“Pre-tax and pre-divestment expenditure on exploration and evaluation charged to the profit and loss account in 2025 was $141 million, compared with $214 million in 2024,” the report said.
