Rio Tinto’s Oct-Dec thermal coal output slips

OREANDA-NEWS. UK-Australian mining firm Rio Tinto saw a 15pc fall in its thermal coal output last year's final quarter, reflecting the sale of its interests in the Clermont coal mine in Queensland and overshadowing higher out from its Hunter valley mines in New South Wales (NSW).

Production fell to 4.77mn t during the October-December quarter from 5.62mn t in the same period a year earlier. The production decline in the latest quarter contributed to the 5pc decline in thermal coal production to 21.89mn t in 2014 from 22.98mn t in 2013.

Production from the Clermont mine fell to 2.42mn t last year compared with 5.9mn t in 2013, following the sale last June of Rio Tinto's 50.1pc interest to Switzerland-based trading and mining firm Glencore and Japanese trading house Sumitomo for \$1bn.

The loss of almost 3.5mn t in output from Clermont in 2014 outweighed production gains from its mines in Queensland and NSW. Thermal coal production from its Hail Creek mine in Queensland rose to 1.89mn t in 2014 from 157,000t in 2013 as the company prioritised thermal coal output over hard coking coal production. Thermal coal production from its Hunter valley mines rose to 9.54mn t in 2014 from 8.8mn t in 2013.

The 2014 thermal coal production comfortably beat Rio Tinto's guidance, which was 17.5mn t. This largely reflects the company's strategy in the second half of last year to prioritise thermal coal production over hard coking coal output.