Rio Tinto's mined copper production fell by 13% year on year in April-June 2019 due to lower production from its Escondida and Kennecott projects reflective of lower grades, the company said on Tuesday July 16.
Mined copper production totaled 137,100 tonnes in the second quarter. Production was also down by 5% from 143,900 tonnes in the first quarter of this year. Mined production at Kennecott in Utah (41,100 tonnes), Escondida in Chile (82,900 tonnes) and Oyu Togoi in Mongolia (13,100 tonnes) dropped by 20%, 10% and 1% respectively year on year in the second quarter. Rio Tinto attributed the fall in mined copper production at all three projects to lower copper grades obtained in the period. Production in the first six months of 2019 totaled 281,000...