With the end goal of extending the life of the mine and sustaining production across its iron ore portfolio, Rio Tinto announced it has invested US$1.8 billion to develop the Brockman 1 mine project extension (BS1). The project has received all of its needed state and federal governmental approvals, and is being developed by the company alongside the Puutu Kunti…
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Rio Tinto said it has resumed operations at its East Intercourse Island (EII) facility at Dampier Port in Western Australia after being offline for over five weeks due to Tropical Cyclone Sean. A railcar dumper at the port facility was flooded when the cyclone delivered record rain along parts of the Pilbara coastline in late January. The miner said dumper…
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Rio Tinto said it has completed a successful trial of biofuel across its network of Western Australian ports, railways and mines. The four-week trial, a first for the miner in Australia, was conducted in partnership with global renewable diesel producer Neste and Australian fuel supplier Viva Energy. It provided Rio Tinto with a greater understanding of how renewable diesel could…
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Five individuals and one company have been crowned winners of the 2025 Chamber of Minerals and Energy WA (CME) Women in Resources Awards. More than 1,100 gathered at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre 13 February to hear the inspirational stories behind each of the 16 finalists. CME Chief Executive Officer Rebecca Tomkinson said at the ceremony that the WIRA…
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The world’s largest iron ore export hub, Port Hedland in the Pilbara region of Australia, is in operation again after the passing of what has been named Cyclone Sean. According to a Reuters report, citing an interview with the Pilbara Ports Authority, the hub reopened Monday after being idled since Saturday, 18 January, as the storm arrived in the region.…
Read MoreWe have tabulated our top stories for 2024 on Miners News Global, and there were some surprises! Check out which articles caught the most attention from readers over the last year. 1. MSHA issues final silica ruleIn this story from April 2024, we shared MSHA’s final rule issuance for exposure to respirable crystalline silica. 2. Rare…
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Rio Tinto has approved an earmark of $2.5 billion to expand the capacity of its Rincon lithium project in Argentina to 60,000 tonnes per year. Rincon is the company’s first commercial-scale lithium operation; that capacity is comprised of the 3,000-tonne starter plant and 57,000-tonne expansion plant. Rincon’s mine life is expected to be 40 years, with construction of the expanded…
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Two class action lawsuits filed in the Federal Court of Australia, accuse BHP and Rio Tinto of knowingly placing female staff into environments where they faced systemic sexual harassment and gender discrimination, reported Bloomberg. Under the Anti-Discrimination Act an employer is liable if they “permit” a woman to work in an environment where they will likely be exposed to sexual…
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Rio Tinto will sell a 30% stake in its Winu copper-gold project in Western Australia to Japan’s Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. for $399 million, reported Bloomberg. “This is a unique opportunity to derisk our investment,” said Katie Jackson, Rio’s chief executive of copper. “We look forward to working more broadly as strategic partners to find new ways to deliver value…
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Rio Tinto has approved construction of a new 25-megawatt solar plant at its Kennecott copper operation in Utah, bringing the mine’s total solar capacity to 30 MW. It will be located next to an existing 5-MW solar plant. Full story.
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