As it prepares to welcome a new chief executive officer (CEO) to its ranks, Rio Tinto has delivered a solid year-on-year (YoY) increase in copper and aluminium production for the first half of 2025 (H1 2025).
Rio Tinto has four key objectives: being the best operator, having impeccable ESG (environmental, social, and governance), excelling in development, and maintaining social licence.
The ‘best operator’ objective saw great progress during H1 2025. For example, Rio Tinto’s Amrun and Gove bauxite operations in Queensland and the Northern Territory respectively outperformed expectations.
Amrun exceeded its nameplate capacity of 22.8 million tonnes a year (Mtpa), resulting in Rio Tinto achieving record H1 production of 31Mt – a result nine per cent higher than H1 2024.
Rio Tinto’s copper business also saw a boost, delivering a 16 per cent YoY increase in production.
The Oyu Tolgoi operation in Mongolia deliverered a 54 per cent YoY increase in H1 2025. Oyu Tolgoi’s underground ramp-up is on-track to reach a greater than 50 per cent increase in production in 2025.
“We are delivering very resilient financial results with an improving operational performance helped by our increasingly diversified portfolio,” Rio Tinto CEO Jakob Stausholm said.
“Underlying EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) of $11.5 billion and operating cash flow of $6.9 billion, despite a 13 per cent lower iron ore price, demonstrate the growing contribution from our aluminium and copper businesses and our Pilbara operations’ strong recovery from the four cyclones in the first quarter.
“We are reporting underlying earnings of $4.8 billion (after taxes and government royalties of $4.8 billion). Our strong cash flow enables us to maintain our practice of a 50 per cent interim payout with a $2.4 billion ordinary dividend, as we continue our disciplined investment in profitable growth while retaining a strong balance sheet.”
The ‘excel in development’ objective also saw growth, with the Western Range iron ore operation in Western Australia opening its doors in June – both on time and on budget.
Main construction works at the Brockman Syncline 1 and Hope Downs 2 iron ore projects in WA have commenced, following support from Traditional Owners and the Federal and WA Governments.
The Simandou project in Guinea, known as the world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit, has also accelerated its first shipment to around November.
“We are well positioned to generate value from our best-in-class project execution, together with growing demand for our products, now and over the coming decades,” Stausholm said.
“We remain on track to deliver strong mid-term production growth, with solid foundations in place and a diverse pipeline of options for the future.”