AKIPRESS.COM - Diversified major Rio Tinto will continue its iron-ore push in 2016, with the miner predicting that full-year production will outstrip 2015 production by some 10-million tons, reports Mining Weekly.

Rio reported that its iron-ore shipments for the three months to December had reached 91.3-million tons, up 11% on the previous corresponding period, taking full-year shipments to 336.6-million tons.

The group’s iron-ore production was 87.2-million tons in the quarter, while full-year production was 327.6-million tons.

For 2016, Rio was targeting iron-ore production of 350-million tons.

“Against a challenging market backdrop for the industry, Rio Tinto remains focused on operating and commercial excellence to leverage the low-cost position of our tier-1 asset base,” said CEO Sam Walsh.

“In 2015, we delivered efficient production, meeting our targets across all of our major products, while rigorously controlling our cost base. We will continue to focus on disciplined management of costs and capital to maximize our cash flow generation throughout 2016,” he added.

Besides its iron-ore division, Rio also reported production growth in bauxite, aluminum, hard coking coal and thermal coal production, while copper production for the quarter declined by 13% compared with the previous corresponding period.

The lower production was partly offset by a 36% increase in production from the Oyu Tolgoi mine, in Mongolia, which resulted from higher grades and throughput.

Meanwhile, Rio reported that hard coking coal production was up 16% on the previous corresponding quarter, to 1.9-million tons, while thermal coal production was up 9% in the same period to 5.9-million tons.

For the full year, Rio delivered 7.8-million tons of hard coking coal and 22.2-million tons of thermal coal.

For 2016, Rio’s share of production was expected to be between seven-million and eight-million tons of hard coking coal, and between 19.3-million and 20.9-million tons of thermal coal. The thermal coal guidance included a contribution from the Bengalla mine, in Australia, which would be sold during the first quarter of 2016.

Bauxite production during the quarter was up 4%, to 11.2-million tons, while aluminum production was also up 4% on the previous corresponding quarter to 864б000 t.

Full-year bauxite production of 43.6-million tons exceeded the production guidance of 43-million tons, with record third-party shipments of 26.6-million tons. Aluminum production for the full year was in line with that achieved in 2014, at 3.3-million tons, with record yearly production at nine smelters offsetting lower production from the Kitimat smelter, as the modernized and expanded smelter was commissioned.