Rio Tinto chief executive officer Jakob Stausholm has told investors they can expect a new Rio by 2030.
Speaking at the major’s 2024 investor seminar in London, Stausholm outlined how the company is planning to pivot to minerals that support the energy transition.
“We have all the building blocks we need to become a global leader in energy transition materials, and we have a clear plan for a decade of profitable growth,” Stausholm said ahead of the meeting.
“We are moving the dial on impeccable ESG (environmental, social and governance), our ability to excel in development and we continue to deepen our social licence, while we intensify our efforts to become best operator to ensure we can deliver growth safely, efficiently and profitably for our stakeholders.”
During the presentation, executives said copper production underpinned these ambitions, telling investors they can expect an 18 per cent increase in copper production next year, which will jump to 40 per cent by 2030.
This will see Rio’s 2025 copper output lift to around 850,000 tonnes, which will settle around one million tonnes by the end of the decade.
The company’s Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia will be the prized jewel in its copper crown, with production expected to skyrocket by 50 per cent in 2025.
While Rio doesn’t currently mine copper in Australia, it announced this week it would be partnering with Sumitomo Metal Mining to develop the Winu copper-gold project in the Great Sandy Desert, Western Australia.
Other areas of growth include increasing iron ore production by 15 million tonnes over three years, focusing on expanding its aluminium investment, advancing its near-term production assets acquired from its takeover of Arcadium Lithium and finishing construction on the Simandou iron ore mine in Guinea, which is on track to open next year.
“We are executing our strategy of delivering a stronger, more diversified, and growing business, underpinned by our belief in the demand for materials which are essential for the global energy transition,” Stausholm said.
“With improved performance we can afford both growth and our decarbonisation, and continue our dividend policy and practice while preserving a strong balance sheet.”
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