Mining giant Rio Tinto is planning to significantly lift its iron ore output in Western Australia's Pilbara region beyond its current target of 220 million tonnes a year.
Mining giant Rio Tinto is planning to significantly lift its iron ore output in Western Australia's Pilbara region beyond its current target of 220 million tonnes a year.
Mining giant Rio Tinto is planning to significantly lift its iron ore output in Western Australia's Pilbara region beyond its current target of 220 million tonnes a year.
Speaking at Rio's annual general meeting in London on Friday, retiring chief executive Leigh Clifford said the company was heading for a production capacity of 220 million tonnes a year by 2009.
"This is nearly double our capacity in 2003 and four times our production seven years ago," he said.
"Due to continued strength in the world's steel markets, particularly in China, we are now planning for a significant lift beyond 220 million tonnes.
"We have the resources to enable this and have teams evaluating the infrastructure requirements to achieve it."
Rio and BHP Billiton, two of the world's Big 3 iron ore producers, have each committed in recent years to spend more than $6 billion expanding their Pilbara operations.
BHP announced last month the go-ahead for its Rapid Growth Project 4, which will expand its production capacity by 20 per cent to 155 million tonnes by mid 2010.
BHP Billiton Iron Ore vice president Ian Ashby has previously confirmed that the group is considering further expansions, noting the possibility that output could potentially increase to 300 million tonnes a year over the next 10 to 20 years.
In other comments at the AGM, Mr Clifford said the supply response during the current resources boom was slower than in the past because of material shortages and the tight supply of skilled profesionals and tradesmen.
He singled out the underground expansion of the Argyle diamond mine in the Kimberley region as one project that was being adversely affected.
"We are beginning to see considerable cost pressures concerning materials and especially underground mining skills as a consequence of the superheated regional economy," he said.