Capability brochure
December 2012
Iron Ore
Source of the world’s
most useful metal
Capability brochure
Iron Ore
December 2012
Our iron ore business
Rio Tinto is a leading international business involved in each stage of metal and mineral
production. The Group combines Rio Tinto plc, which is listed on the London Stock
Exchange, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
We are the only iron ore producer
with a truly global production and
growth platform, with operations
and projects across four continents.
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Capability brochure
Iron Ore
December 2012
Example
of raw
iron ore.
Cover image
Skyscrapers and
infrastructure.
Demonstrating an
end product of iron ore
and the use of steel in
infrastructure.
Above
Our Pilbara operations
include the largest
privately owned rail
network in Australia some
1,500 kilometres long.
Our global iron ore business is an important part of
our asset portfolio. We are the only iron ore producer
with a truly global production and growth platform, with
operations and projects across four continents, building
communities and legacies worldwide.
We’re also the second largest supplier to the world’s
iron ore trade. Iron is a key ingredient in the production
of steel – an essential part of modern living from
buildings to cars, machinery to appliances. Vital to
the modern world, it is also crucial to the growth of
developing regions like Asia and India.
Our major operations are in Western Australia and
Canada and we’re investing in new projects in west
Africa and India. From these locations, we are well
positioned to take advantage of demand for iron ore
in both developed and developing regions. We also
operate an ocean freight business, Rio Tinto Marine,
which services our global operations.
Our integrated iron ore operations – including mines,
rail, ports and related infrastructure – are designed to
respond rapidly to changes in demand. We’re expanding
our operations in Western Australia to epic proportions
while introducing next generation technologies to
deliver greater efficiency, lower production costs and
improved health, safety and environmental performance.
Through these global projects, expansions and
innovations, we are further extending our leading
role in the global iron ore sector.
Iron is a key ingredient in the
production of steel – an essential part
of modern living from buildings to cars,
machinery to appliances.
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Capability brochure
Iron Ore
December 2012
Iron ore
We find and extract iron ore from beneath the surface rock;
crush and sort the ore; then ship direct to customers or to
smelters where they extract iron metal from the ore.
We produce a range of lump and fines products from
our Western Australian operations for use in integrated
steelworks as sinter plant feed or direct blast furnace
feed. Our Canadian operations produce concentrate for
sinter plant feed and iron ore pellets for direct reduction
processes and blast furnace operations.
Most of the iron ore we sell is smelted by our customers
in blast furnaces. Fuel, iron ore and flux are continuously
supplied through the top of the furnace, so that chemical
reactions take place throughout the furnace as material
moves downwards. The end products are usually molten
metal and slag phases tapped from the bottom, and
gases exiting from the top of the furnace.
Our HIsmelt® process (Rio Tinto: 60 per cent) is a
cleaner, low cost and more efficient alternative to the
traditional blast furnace. The world’s first commercial
direct smelting process, it produces premium quality
pig iron directly from iron ore, with no slag. The process
allows iron ore fines with significant impurities to be
used, and cheaper, non coking coal instead of coke.
HIsmelt® licences are available to steel producers
throughout the world.
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Capability brochure
Iron Ore
December 2012
Steel cog, bolt and
drill bits demonstrate
an end use of steel.
Left
Autonomous haul trucks
have been deployed at
two fully operational
autonomous pits and
we expect about 150
driverless trucks to be
in operation across our
Pilbara mines by the
end of 2015.
Glossary of terms and processes
Lump ore: Consists of coarse particles, with a specified
lower size limit in the range of 10mm to 6.3mm.
Fines ore: Consists entirely of small particles, with a
specified upper size limit in the range of 10mm to 6.3mm.
Processed ores: Treated by physical or chemical
processes to make them more suitable for subsequent
production of iron and steel making.
Concentrates: Processed ores in which the iron content
has been raised.
Agglomerates: Processed ores formed into a coherent
piece substantially larger than the original particles.
Sintering: A process that turns iron ore fines into
agglomerates through combustion at high temperatures.
Pelletising: A process that turns iron ore fines (generally
finer than 100µm) into spherical agglomerates by balling
the fines with various additives, followed by hot or cold
bonding induration.
Direct reduction: High grade iron ore (as pellets, lump
and sometimes fines) is heated below its melting point
in the presence of the reducing agents (H2 and CO) from
processed natural gas/syngas/coal to remove the oxygen
from the ore. The aim is to obtain a product with the
highest proportion of “metallised” iron as possible.
Using iron
Iron is the most useful metal in the world. It is used
in a variety of forms and in a multitude of applications
in everyday life.
Cast iron is partly refined iron containing up to five
per cent carbon. It is very hard, but brittle and is ideal
for moulded parts like car engine blocks.
Steel is the most common form of iron. It contains
around one per cent carbon and has thousands of uses.
Stainless steel contains chromium, making it very
rust resistant. Stainless steel is ideal for vehicle parts,
hospital equipment and cooking utensils.
Tool steel is extremely hard, heat-treated steel that
is used in metalworking tools.
Blast furnace: Fuel, iron ore and flux (limestone) are
continuously supplied through the top of the furnace,
while air is blown into the lower section, so chemical
reactions occur throughout the furnace as material
moves downward. End products are usually molten
metal and slag phases tapped from the bottom and
gases exiting from the top.
Iron is the most useful metal in the world.
It is used in a variety of forms and in a
multitude of applications in everyday life.
4
We produce 237 million tonnes of iron
ore each year from our Pilbara operations.
We’re currently undergoing a major
expansion programme to increase this to
290 million tonnes per year by 2013 and
then 360 million tonnes per year in 2015.
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Capability brochure
Iron Ore
December 2012
Our iron ore operations
Our major operations are in the Pilbara region of Western Australia where we
own and operate 14 mines, three ports and 1,500 kilometres of railway – all from
our Operations Centre some 1,500 kilometres away in Perth.
Left
Our Cape Lambert
port in the Pilbara
is undergoing major
expansion works
to support our
Pilbara-wide growth
to 360 million tonnes.
Pilbara operations, Western Australia
We produce 237 million tonnes of iron ore each year from
our Pilbara operations and we’re currently undergoing
a major expansion programme to increase this to 290
million tonnes per year by 2013 and then 360 million
tonnes per year in 2015. This represents the largest
integrated mining project in Australian history and will
mean, when we reach our end goal, we’ll be producing
almost one million tonnes of iron ore each day.
Other innovations include autonomous haul trucks,
trialled at our West Angelas mine since 2010 and
recently deployed at Yandicoogina mine – by 2015 the
fleet will grow beyond 150. And we’re using technology
to increase the automation of our train operations, with
the first phase of the AutoHaulTM project being installed
by 2014 – this implementation will create the first long
distance, heavy haul system of its kind in the world and
will be a key enabler of our expansion programme.
Our Pilbara growth programme includes further
development of existing mines and the establishment
of new mines, as well as the expansion of port and rail
infrastructure to get our products to market.
We’re also implementing remote controlled drills to
enable drill-and-blast extraction of ore, tele-operated
shiploading at our ports and ore sorting technology
among many more projects.
In particular, development activity that has been
approved and underway includes:
• Cape Lambert port and rail
• Hope Downs 4 mine
• Western Turner Syncline mine
• Brockman 4 mine phase two
• Marandoo mine extension
• Nammuldi mine extension
• Wickham town expansion
• Other infrastructure, such as power, water and
gas networks.
These initiatives, and others, will help reduce our
environmental footprint and operating costs, provide
greater efficiency and offer our staff more flexible
working conditions and career options.
As a business we don’t just mine ore, we lead in
technology and innovation for our industry, we own
property, pastoral stations and provide utilities and
facilities to a number of towns in the Pilbara.
Our purpose-built Operations Centre in Perth is the
primary control centre for our Pilbara network. Home
to more than 200 controllers and schedulers, and
another 230 employees in related functions, it provides
complete system visibility and integration, allowing more
efficient decision-making and control. It is one part of
our Mine of the Future™ programme – introducing new
and improved ways of mining through automation and
remote operation.
Iron Ore Company of Canada
Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) has been Canada’s
leading supplier of iron ore for more than 50 years.
Iron ore is mined in Labrador City, in the province of
Newfoundland and Labrador, and then processed to
produce iron ore concentrate and pellets, which are
railed to the port at Sept-Iles, Quebec, then exported to
major North American, European and Asian steelmakers.
IOC is also the subject of expansion activity, with the first
phase of expansion lifting capacity to 22 million tonnes
per annum, and the second phase to 23.3 million tonnes
on a pathway to 26 million tonnes.
Rio Tinto Marine
As the largest shipping user in the Rio Tinto group, Iron
Ore is also responsible for Rio Tinto Marine, which owns
and charters vessels for the transport of Rio Tinto’s bulk
products, including iron ore.
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Capability brochure
Iron Ore
December 2012
Our iron ore projects
In addition to the expansions in Western Australia and Canada,
we have an exciting portfolio of projects in Africa and Asia.
Right
Our Simandou mining
project is estimated as
capable of producing up
to 95 million tonnes per
year once complete.
Simandou, Guinea
Simandou is a world class iron-ore mining project
located in Guinea, West Africa, in one of the best
undeveloped major iron ore provinces in the world.
The project will consist of a mine, approximately
670 kilometre trans-Guinean railway and a port south
of Conakry. At full production, Simandou will export up
to 95 million tonnes per year of high-grade sinter fines.
The first shipment of ore is expected by mid-2015.
The mining concession and project is a joint-venture held
by Rio Tinto, with a majority interest, Chinalco’s subsidiary
Chalco and the International Finance Corporation, a
member of World Bank Group. The Republic of Guinea
will have the right to take a stake in the mine and in
the project infrastructure (rail and port).
When the mine goes into full production, Simandou
will be the largest integrated iron ore mine and
infrastructure project ever developed in Africa and
will generate sustainable social and economic gains
and growth for Guinea.
Orissa, India
Rio Tinto has a joint venture with the state owned
Orissa Mining Corporation, which is seeking to develop
iron ore leases in Orissa – one of the key iron ore
regions of the world.
With expectations of significant infrastructure and
industrial development in India in the medium and
long term, Rio Tinto is keen to contribute to the
development of the Indian iron ore sector.
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Capability brochure
Iron Ore
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December 2012
Capability brochure
Iron Ore
December 2012
Iron ore operations and projects
Left
Steel bridge – illustrates
an end use of iron ore
and its contribution to
the basic infrastructure
of modern life.
Iron ore operations†
1 Pilbara operations
Hamersley Iron mines
Brockman 2
Brockman 4
Channar (60%)
Eastern Range (54%)
Hope Downs 1 and 4 (50% joint venture)
Marandoo
Mt Tom Price
Nammuldi
Paraburdoo
Western Turner Syncline
Yandicoogina
Iron ore projects†
3 Orissa (51%)
4 Simandou (majority interest in joint venture)
Locations on the map are indicative. Operations and projects are wholly
owned unless otherwise shown.
†
Robe River mines (53%)
Mesa A/Warramboo
Mesa J
West Angelas
2
Iron Ore Company of Canada (58.7%)
2
3
4
1
Rio Tinto plc
2 Eastbourne Terrace
London W2 6LG
United Kingdom
Rio Tinto Limited
120 Collins Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000
Australia
T +44 (0)20 7781 2000
T +61 (0)3 9283 3333
riotinto.com
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