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Released July 29, 2021 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Rio Tinto plc (NYSE:RIO) (London, England) stunned market watchers this week when it reported a sharp turnaround in its financial and operational health for the first six months of 2021, with higher pricing for iron ore, aluminum and copper driving record first-half profits. In North America, the company is planning or at work on several projects to further develop these resources amid soaring demand. Industrial Info is tracking more than $26 billion worth of active projects from Rio Tinto worldwide, including more than $10.4 billion worth in the U.S. and Canada.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Rio Tinto's active projects in the U.S. and Canada, by project type.
Increased steel production, especially in China, fueled the boom in iron ore prices in the first half of 2021. Jakob Stausholm, the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto, partly attributed the development to "government stimulus in response to ongoing COVID-19 pressures, [which] has driven strong demand for our products at a time of constrained supply, resulting in a significant spike in most prices."
Copper prices have rallied 66% in the first half of the year, as a strong recovery in global demand met with a slow, sometimes frozen supply chain. In the U.S., Rio Tinto is preparing to begin construction on the $1.5 billion Phase II wall pushback project at its Kennecott Bingham Canyon Copper Mine in Utah, which will extend the mine life to 2032, and include upgrades to produce an additional 1 million tons of refined copper between 2026 and 2032. The $900 million Phase I, which extended the mine life to 2027, was completed June. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can read detailed project reports for Phase I and Phase II.
Rio Tinto is more aggressively pursuing lithium, a crucial commodity for batteries used in electric vehicles and storage technology at renewable-sourced power plants. As the company noted in a quarterly earnings-related presentation: "The market fundamentals for lithium are strong, with 25% to 35% demand growth per annum projected over next 10 years, driven by the global energy transition." As a result, Rio Tinto is considering a series of expansions and upgrades at its borax mine in Boron, California, which currently produces 1 million tons per year of refined borates.
In April, Rio Tinto began producing 10 tons per year of battery-grade lithium from waste rock at a demonstration plant at its Boron complex. The demonstration plant will run throughout 2021, after which the company will decide if it wants to proceed to a production-scale plant, which would have an initial capacity of at least 5,000 tons per year. Among the projects under consideration for the Boron complex is the addition of a Commercial-Scale Lithium Carbonate Recovery Circuit and, further down the road, an expansion of the new circuit. Subscribers can read Industrial Info's detailed project reports on the proposed circuit and its expansion.
Rio Tinto also is considering a concentrated solar power plant at the Boron complex, which would use 40,000 computer-vision controlled mirrors to harness sunlight like a high-tech magnifying glass, generating 35,000 pounds per hour of carbon-free steam to supplement power generation the mining operation. Earlier this year, Rio Tinto signed a memorandum of understanding with Heliogen (Pasadena, California), a renewable energy-technology company backed by Bill Gates, among others, to build the 12.3-MW facility. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.
Aluminum prices also have been bolstered by tight physical markets, with supply disruptions in China and limited restarts elsewhere resulting in price gains of about 41%, according to Rio Tinto. In Canada, the company began construction last month on a project with Elysis (Montreal, Quebec) to build an inert anode technology unit at its Alma aluminum smelter in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec. Elysis, a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), is developing an aluminum-making process that eliminates direct greenhouse-gas emissions from the traditional smelting process and instead produces oxygen. Rio Tinto and Elysis believe the inert anode prototype cells to be placed at the end of the Alma smelter's existing potline will demonstrate the technology's commercial possibilities. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.
Rio Tinto also began construction this summer on a modernization of its Port Alfred harbor facilities in La Baie, Quebec, which is designed to improve receiving and unloading operations for raw materials used to produce aluminum. The company also is nearing completion on a modernization of its aluminum smelter in Sept-Iles, Quebec, which produces 575,000 tons per year. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's reports on the La Baie and Sept-Iles projects.
Rio Tinto reported net earnings of $12.3 billion for the first half of 2021, compared with $3.3 billion in the first half of 2020. Consolidated sales revenues were reported to be $33.1 billion for the first half of 2021, compared with $19.4 billion in the same period last year.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.
Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Rio Tinto's active projects in the U.S. and Canada, by project type.Increased steel production, especially in China, fueled the boom in iron ore prices in the first half of 2021. Jakob Stausholm, the chief executive officer of Rio Tinto, partly attributed the development to "government stimulus in response to ongoing COVID-19 pressures, [which] has driven strong demand for our products at a time of constrained supply, resulting in a significant spike in most prices."
Copper prices have rallied 66% in the first half of the year, as a strong recovery in global demand met with a slow, sometimes frozen supply chain. In the U.S., Rio Tinto is preparing to begin construction on the $1.5 billion Phase II wall pushback project at its Kennecott Bingham Canyon Copper Mine in Utah, which will extend the mine life to 2032, and include upgrades to produce an additional 1 million tons of refined copper between 2026 and 2032. The $900 million Phase I, which extended the mine life to 2027, was completed June. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Metals & Minerals Project Database can read detailed project reports for Phase I and Phase II.
Rio Tinto is more aggressively pursuing lithium, a crucial commodity for batteries used in electric vehicles and storage technology at renewable-sourced power plants. As the company noted in a quarterly earnings-related presentation: "The market fundamentals for lithium are strong, with 25% to 35% demand growth per annum projected over next 10 years, driven by the global energy transition." As a result, Rio Tinto is considering a series of expansions and upgrades at its borax mine in Boron, California, which currently produces 1 million tons per year of refined borates.
In April, Rio Tinto began producing 10 tons per year of battery-grade lithium from waste rock at a demonstration plant at its Boron complex. The demonstration plant will run throughout 2021, after which the company will decide if it wants to proceed to a production-scale plant, which would have an initial capacity of at least 5,000 tons per year. Among the projects under consideration for the Boron complex is the addition of a Commercial-Scale Lithium Carbonate Recovery Circuit and, further down the road, an expansion of the new circuit. Subscribers can read Industrial Info's detailed project reports on the proposed circuit and its expansion.
Rio Tinto also is considering a concentrated solar power plant at the Boron complex, which would use 40,000 computer-vision controlled mirrors to harness sunlight like a high-tech magnifying glass, generating 35,000 pounds per hour of carbon-free steam to supplement power generation the mining operation. Earlier this year, Rio Tinto signed a memorandum of understanding with Heliogen (Pasadena, California), a renewable energy-technology company backed by Bill Gates, among others, to build the 12.3-MW facility. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.
Aluminum prices also have been bolstered by tight physical markets, with supply disruptions in China and limited restarts elsewhere resulting in price gains of about 41%, according to Rio Tinto. In Canada, the company began construction last month on a project with Elysis (Montreal, Quebec) to build an inert anode technology unit at its Alma aluminum smelter in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec. Elysis, a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Alcoa Corporation (NYSE:AA) (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), is developing an aluminum-making process that eliminates direct greenhouse-gas emissions from the traditional smelting process and instead produces oxygen. Rio Tinto and Elysis believe the inert anode prototype cells to be placed at the end of the Alma smelter's existing potline will demonstrate the technology's commercial possibilities. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's project report.
Rio Tinto also began construction this summer on a modernization of its Port Alfred harbor facilities in La Baie, Quebec, which is designed to improve receiving and unloading operations for raw materials used to produce aluminum. The company also is nearing completion on a modernization of its aluminum smelter in Sept-Iles, Quebec, which produces 575,000 tons per year. Subscribers can learn more from Industrial Info's reports on the La Baie and Sept-Iles projects.
Rio Tinto reported net earnings of $12.3 billion for the first half of 2021, compared with $3.3 billion in the first half of 2020. Consolidated sales revenues were reported to be $33.1 billion for the first half of 2021, compared with $19.4 billion in the same period last year.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn.
