MELBOURNE --Rio Tinto Ltd. (RTP) said Thursday first quarter iron ore output rose as a result of its expansion program but that mined copper output eased due to lower grades.
Iron ore output for the quarter was 32.2 million metric tons, 12% higher than first quarter of 2006 but 8% lower than the fourth quarter due to the impact of Tropical Cyclones George, Jacob and Kara which lashed Western Australia's northwest.
Rio Tinto mined 197,900 tons of copper during the quarter, down 3% on the first quarter of 2006, and refined 101,600 tons of copper, up 19%.
The miner said lower grades at the Kennecott Utah Copper operations in the U.S. were behind the lower mined copper numbers.
Rio Tinto said first quarter aluminum output was 2% higher on year at 211,700 tons while alumina production tumbled 15% after the sale of the Eurallumina refinery in Italy.
Coking coal output was 1.4 million tons, up 28% on the first quarter of 2006, other coal output from Australia fell 8% to 7.0 million tons and thermal coal output from the U.S. mines climbed 3% to 30.36 million tons.
Rio Tinto said that, together with Ivanhoe Mines (IVN), it has reached agreement in principle with the government of Mongolia on a draft investment agreement for the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project in Mongolia.
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