Rio Tinto Started Delivery of Iron Ore from Gudai-Darri Mine

SEATTLE (Scrap Monster): Rio Tinto announced that it has started delivering iron ore from its Gudai-Darri mine in Western Australia. The company plans to increase the production from the mine through the remainder of the year. Furthermore, it expects full capacity production by 2023.

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The mine had broken ground in April 2019. The construction phase saw movement of over 20 million cubic metres of earth and resulted in 14 million work hours. It involved batching and placement of 35,000 cubic metres of concrete, and the installation of 10,000 tonnes of steel. The development phase supported more than 3,000 jobs during the construction and design phase. It is expected to support around 600 permanent jobs during its operation phase, the company press release noted.

Gudai-Darri mine , with an expected life of more than 40 years and an annual capacity of 43 million tonnes, is expected to underpin future production of Pilbara Blend product. The commissioning and ramp-up of the mine is expected to boost Rio Tinto’s iron ore production volumes and improve product mix from the Pilbara in H2 2022. The company reaffirmed its earlier shipment guidance for 2022 at 320-335 million tonnes.

The capital cost of the mine is estimated at around $3.1 billion.