{"id":778589,"date":"2018-06-18T12:45:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-18T12:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=778589"},"modified":"2018-06-18T12:45:51","modified_gmt":"2018-06-18T12:45:51","slug":"rio-tinto-to-start-building-massive-koodaideri-iron-ore-mine-in-2019-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/?p=778589","title":{"rendered":"Rio Tinto to start building massive Koodaideri iron ore mine in 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-style:italic;font-size:16px\">By  <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mining.com\/rio-tinto-to-start-building-massive-koodaideri-iron-ore-mine-in-2019\/\">Cecilia Jamasmie<\/a><\/span>  <\/p>\n<div class=\"ftpimagefix\" style=\"float:left\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mining.com\/rio-tinto-to-start-building-massive-koodaideri-iron-ore-mine-in-2019\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" src=\"http:\/\/www.mining.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/iron-ore-supply-muted.jpg\" alt=\"Rio Tinto to start mining at massive Koodaideri iron ore site in 2019\"><\/a><\/div>\n<p>World&#8217;s second largest miner Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE:RIO) <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.riotinto.com\/media\/media-releases-237_25658.aspx\" rel=\"noopener\">said Monday<\/a> it will begin developing its Koodaideri iron ore mine in Western Australia&#8217;s Pilbara region next year, highlighting parallel plans to de-bottleneck rail capacity, which should increase it to 360 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in 2019.<\/p>\n<p>The miner also said it would mine its first tonnes from the project, which it says it&#8217;s one of the world&#8217;s most technologically advanced, in 2021.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Koodaideri orebody is 50 kilometres long and 5 kilometres wide. It will be a new production hub which will be a key feature for the Pilbara for many years to come,\u201d iron ore chief executive Chris Salisbury said in a <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.riotinto.com\/documents\/180618_Presentation_Chris_Salisbury_Iron_Ore.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">presentation at Rio&#8217;s investor day<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>He noted the mine would be the first one to take full advantage of automation in trucking and drilling.<\/p>\n<p><q>Rio will start operating its long-delayed AutoHaul robot rail system by the end of the year, which will remove the logistical bottleneck the miner faces in getting iron ore from the pit to the port.<\/q><\/p>\n<p>The announcement comes on the heels of BHP&#8217;s decision to <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mining.com\/iron-ore-price-bhp-adds-high-grade-lump-ore-just-42-tonne\/\" rel=\"noopener\">invest $2.9bn for the development of the South Flank iron ore project<\/a> in the central Pilbara, which will replace depleting resources at the mining giant&#8217;s Western Australian operations and up its average grade from the region in the process.<\/p>\n<p>It also follows a decision by Fortescue Metals Group (ASX:FMG) last month to go ahead with <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mining.com\/fortescue-goes-ahead-1-3bn-iron-ore-project-western-australia\/\">its $1.3-billion Eliwana project<\/a>, also in the iron-ore rich Pilbara.<\/p>\n<p>Rio also said that Pilbara sustaining capital would be about $1 billion over each of the next three years, including replacement mines at West Angelas, Robe Valley and Koodaideri, with the latter still to be formally approved.<\/p>\n<p>Salisbury noted that Rio&#8217;s autonomous rail project AutoHaul was on schedule to be implemented by the end of the year, adding it was already providing benefits from an uplift in rail capacity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRemoving our bottleneck in rail and increasing flexibility remain a key priority (\u2026) Importantly, capacity is not the same as tonnes shipped. How we use the capacity of our integrated system will be dynamic, in line with a strict value-over-volume approach,\u201d he said at the presentation.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Future remains rosy<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Despite increased volatility and uncertainty around the globe, Salisbury said the general outlook remains solid, particularly when looking at its bigger customer \u2014 China.<\/p>\n<p>Rio sees Beijing&#8217;s supply-side reforms and environmental policy improvements lifting demand for high quality iron ore.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cChina&#8217;s steel industry is undergoing a structural change. Removal of less efficient steel-making capacity and strong demand is supporting steel pricing and currently provides a robust backdrop for high quality iron ore,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n<p>Rio Tinto&#8217;s Australian iron ore exports guidance for 2018 remained at between 330 million and 340 million tonnes.<\/p>\n<p>The price for benchmark 62% iron ore fines last traded at $68.49 a tonne, according to the <em>Metal Bulletin<\/em>.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>Source: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/www.riotinto.com\/documents\/180618_Presentation_Chris_Salisbury_Iron_Ore.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\"> Iron ore chief executive Chris Salisbury presentation, June 2018.<\/a><\/em>)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The post <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mining.com\/rio-tinto-to-start-building-massive-koodaideri-iron-ore-mine-in-2019\/\">Rio Tinto to start building massive Koodaideri iron ore mine in 2019<\/a> appeared first on <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" href=\"http:\/\/www.mining.com\/\">MINING.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mining.com\/rio-tinto-to-start-building-massive-koodaideri-iron-ore-mine-in-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" id=\"rssmi_more\"> &#8230;read more<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>From:: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mining.com\/rio-tinto-to-start-building-massive-koodaideri-iron-ore-mine-in-2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Rio Tinto to start building massive Koodaideri iron ore mine in 2019\">Infomine<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Cecilia Jamasmie World&#8217;s second largest miner Rio Tinto (ASX, LON, NYSE:RIO) said Monday it will begin developing its Koodaideri iron ore mine in Western Australia&#8217;s Pilbara region next year, highlighting parallel plans to de-bottleneck rail capacity, which should increase it to 360 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in 2019. The miner also said it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"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":[360],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778589"}],"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\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=778589"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778589\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=778589"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=778589"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/juniorminingnews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=778589"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}