PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Global diversified miner Rio Tinto said this week that the company would maintain its “relentless pursuit” of cost cutting measures, while boosting iron-ore production both in the Pilbara and in Canada.

Speaking at a conference in Perth this week, Rio iron-ore CE Andrew Harding noted that the company had been both deliberate and enthusiastic about finding costs savings, with initiatives across operations, maintenance and better planning.

“Chasing the many improvement opportunities at all levels within the business continues to be great news for both our cash cost performance and our operational profitability,” Harding said.

“We have made large gains through controlling our cash operating costs, together with maximising throughput from our integrated system, both via productivity gains and volume growth.”

Earlier in the year, Rio reported operating cost improvements of $2.3-billion, which exceeded its 2013 target of $2-billion.

Harding pointed out that Rio remained the lowest unit cost producer in the Pilbara, with a full-year cash unit cost of $20.80/t in 2013, 11% lower than in 2012.

The cash cost was managed despite Rio’s push to deliver a 53-million-tonne-a-year expansion to its Pilbara operation, taking total output to 290-million tonnes a year.

The full ramp-up to the nameplate capacity was expected ahead of the original schedule, Harding said, and would be delivered by the end of the first half of 2014.

“Already we have frequent excursions in excess of 290-million tonnes a year, both with run rates at the separate mines, rail and port assets, as well as within the system as a whole.

“The performance is variable, however, and remains a little way short of us calling a continuous 290-million-tonne-a-year run rate.”

Rio was targeting an increase in its Pilbara production to 360-million tonnes a year within the next 15 months.

Meanwhile, Harding pointed out that its 59%-owned Iron Ore Company (IOC), in Canada, was also working towards achieving full ramp-up at its concentrator expansion project, which would see production increase to 23.3-million tonnes a year, by adding mining fleet, power infrastructure and grinding and spiral capacity.

“The project will be finalised in the first half of this year,” Harding said.

“Frankly, the production growth rate has not been achieved as quickly as expected. And this year, operations have already been impacted by the same polar vortex that caused severe weather disruptions across Canada and North America over the past few months.

“The key is now to match operational performance with capacity as quickly as possible, which should see unit costs decline to historically low levels,” he added.

Rio had put up its stake in IOC for sale last year and although offers had reportedly been received, those were below what the group expected to get for its stake. Newswire Reuters quoted CEO Sam Walsh as saying that the IOC sale was not a necessity and that Rio would sell if “somebody wants to offer a big cheque”.

The Canadian iron-ore business was expected to become more valuable in future as Asian steelmakers were seeking to reduce their reliance on the traditional centres, such as Brazil and Australia. Canada’s Labrador Trough also offered higher-quality product, such as pellets and concentrates, which China’s steel mills were increasingly turning to in order to meet tougher air pollution standards.