{"id":1168217,"date":"2020-02-27T06:00:51","date_gmt":"2020-02-27T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/?p=1015351"},"modified":"2020-02-27T06:00:51","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T12:00:51","slug":"rio-tinto-to-begin-copper-production-at-winu-in-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=1168217","title":{"rendered":"Rio Tinto to begin copper production at Winu in 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE: RIO) plans to ramp up&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/rio-tinto-may-found-next-major-copper-mine-w-australia\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">development of its Winu copper-gold project<\/a>&nbsp;in Western Australia, with first production expected in 2023.<\/p>\n<div class='d-flex justify-content-center d-xs-block d-sm-block d-md-none'>\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0'><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1561499308230-0');});<\/script><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The world\u2019s No. 2 miner continues drilling and geophysical testing at the asset, which could be its next major copper project, and is progressing discussions with land owners to keep moving forward.<\/p>\n<p>Chief executive officer Jean-S\u00e9bastien Jacques <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\"said on Wednesday (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mining.com\/rio-tintos-1bn-spend-to-reach-zero-emissions-not-enough-analysts\/\" >said on Wednesday<\/a> that the company\u2019s job was to create options, which it could progress to meet market demand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA great example of one is Winu, our copper opportunity in Western Australia,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The Winu copper-gold-silver discovery is about 130 km. from<br \/>\nNewcrest\u2019s Telfer copper-gold mine in the East Pilbara. It\u2019s also close to<br \/>\nnumerous copper prospects discovered recently by juniors, and 350 km southeast<br \/>\nof Port Hedland, the world\u2019s largest bulk export port.<\/p>\n<p>Rio has been investing heavily in copper in the past two<br \/>\nyears as it believes the market&nbsp;will soon go into deficit amid<br \/>\nexpectations that bigger power grids around the world and an electric-vehicle<br \/>\nboom will boost demand, while&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/web\/million-tons-copper-on-the-way-may-not-be-enough\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">supplies will remain constrained<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Chile, the world\u2019s largest copper mining nation has echoed<br \/>\nthe company\u2019s outlook. In January, the state copper commission, Cochilco, said<br \/>\nthe anticipated global shortage of the metal would materialize this year, reaching<br \/>\nabout 22,000 tonnes. The agency cited a consumption increase paired with<br \/>\nfalling volumes of copper scrap processing as the most obvious causes.<\/p>\n<p>Chief financial officer, Jakob Stausholm, <a href=\"https:\/\/otp.tools.investis.com\/clients\/uk\/rio_tinto3\/ASX_News\/news.html\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">confirmed on Wednesday<\/a> Rio\u2019s focus on the red metal, noting that most of the exploration expenditure was going towards the commodity.<\/p>\n<p>In the past, analysts have questioned the mining giant\u2019s ability to scale up its copper business quickly without making an expensive acquisition, especially after facing challenges at key assets. &nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Rio had to <a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/rio-tinto-delays-start-oyu-tolgoi-expansion-due-technical-issues\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">delay first production<\/a>\u00a0from the $5.3 billion underground expansion of its Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold-silver mine in Mongolia. Originally scheduled for early 2020, it\u2019s now expected to happen in the third quarter of 2021.<\/p>\n<p>Rio also decided to sell <a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/freeport-rio-formally-yield-control-giant-grasberg-mine-indonesia\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">its interest in the&nbsp;Grasberg&nbsp;mine<\/a>&nbsp;in Indonesia, the world\u2019s second-biggest copper mine, as part of a deal that put an end to&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/freeport-curb-indonesia-operations-grasberg-deal-delayed\/\" >years of disagreements<\/a>&nbsp;between operator Freeport McMoRan (NYSE:FCX) and the country\u2019s government.<\/p>\n<p>The company seems be more interested in new discoveries. Last year, it invested a further\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/rio-tinto-injects-another-302m-resolution-copper-project-arizona\/\" >$302 million\u00a0to advance its Resolution copper project<\/a>, in the US state of Arizona and has been advancing several other copper projects, such as <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\" href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/rios-partner-aussie-copper-project-said-nothing-great-far\/\" >the Citadel project with Antipa Minerals<\/a>\u00a0(ASX:AZY) in Western Australia, and Berenguela,\u00a0in south-eastern Peru. It has also applied for\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mining.com\/rio-tinto-search-next-escondida-mine-chile\/\"  rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" aria-label=\" (opens in a new tab)\">exploration permits in northern Chile<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The miner called the Western Australia project its &#8220;copper opportunity.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[369,4,2640],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168217"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1168217"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168217\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1168347,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1168217\/revisions\/1168347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1168217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1168217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1168217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}