PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Mining major Rio Tinto has delivered increased production across the majority of its commodities during the third quarter ended September, despite the volatile market conditions.

“We achieved strong production results in the third quarter, with copper volumes up, as Oyu Tolgoi ramps up to full capacity, and Kennecott continues to recover ahead of expectations,” said Rio CEO Sam Walsh.

Copper production for the period was up by 23% to 162 300 t, compared with the previous corresponding period, with year-to-date production up 19% on the previous corresponding period, to 458 700 t.

“In iron-ore, we achieved record production and shipments in Western Australia following the official opening of our landmark Pilbara 290 port and rail expansion, four months ahead of its original schedule and $400-million under budget,” said Walsh.

Iron-ore production hit a record high during the three months to September, with Rio reporting a production of some 68.3-million tonnes, up 2% on the previous corresponding quarter, and up 4% during the nine months to date, to 195.5-million tonnes.

The Pilbara operations delivered 64.3-million tonnes during the quarter ended September.

Walsh pointed out that productivity improvements in Rio’s Australian operations also led to record quarterly thermal coal production, which was up by 14% quarter-on-quarter to nearly seven-million tonnes, and up by 21% for the year to date, to just over 20-million tonnes.

The increased thermal coal tonnage was driven by the strong ramp-up to deliver nameplate production rates at the 12.2-million-tonne-a-year Claremont operation.

However, hard coking coal production was down 6% during the quarter ended September, compared with the previous corresponding period, to just over 2.2-million tonnes, while year-to-date production was down by 5%, to 5.8-million tonnes.

Rio was continuing its work to recover coal following a geotechnical low wall failure at the Hail Creek mine in July, while operations at Kestrel were transitioning, following the start of production from the Kestrel mine expansion project, which would extend the mine life by 20 years.

Meanwhile, Walsh pointed out that the company maintained good progress against its strategic priorities to improve the performance of its business unit, while strengthening the balance sheet and delivering approved growth projects.

“We are also making further important gains in productivity across our operations and continue to drive costs out of the business,” he said.