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Rio Tinto has raised its copper output target for 2025, it said on Thursday November 4, helped by increased production at its giant Oyu Tolgoi mine, while some of the world’s top producers are struggling to boost production of the metal which is crucial to artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and electrical vehicles (EVs).
The Anglo-Australian miner said it will boost its 2025 copper output to 860,000-875,000 tonnes after completing an underground development project at Oyu Tolgoi, which has helped to increase volumes and lower the costs of production.
Rio Tinto had initially forecast producing 780,000-850,000 tonnes of the metal in 2025 helped by Oyu Tolgoi ramp and Escondida mine in Chile. Copper output in 2026 is forecast at 800,000-870,000 tonnes, Rio Tinto said.
The miner’s copper output was up by 13% to 697,000 tonnes in 2024.
Copper output at Oyu Tolgoi is forecast to average 500,000 tonnes annually from 2028 to 2036, Rio Tinto said.
“We are on track for record production [in 2025],” Rio Tinto Chief Executive Copper Katie Jackson told investors during the company’s capital markets day. “We have revised guidance twice and we have lowered our cash costs guidance.”
“Returns on capital are up and Oyu Tolgoi is cash flow positive. In 2026 we expect another year of progress with around 10% production growth from our operated assets,” she added.
Rio Tinto has also set a target to raise copper output to 1 million tonnes per year by 2030 and beyond that planned mines at the Resolution project in the US and La Granja in Peru are expected to help support growth.
How to grow copper output and meet rising demand has become a central and topical theme in the boardrooms of the world’s top miners, while prices for the red metal rallies and demand is forecast to outpace supply over the coming decades.
Rival Glencore on December 3 outlined an ambitious plan to raise copper output to 1 million tonnes per year by 2028 and 1.6 million by 2035.
Key to Glencore’s strategy is advancing nine projects in Latin America and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) over the coming decade a cost of about $23 billon. Some of the mines could be developed in partnership, Glencore CEO Gary Nagle said on December 3.
Anglo American and Canadian miner Teck Resources are merging their assets to unlock copper growth to a combined output of about 1.35 million tpy by 2027.
Jackson indicated that Oyu Tolgoi is on track to ramp up to an average 500,000 tpy, with grades and recoveries improving at underground mining operations.
The miner is successfully managing geological challenges at Kennecott mine and aims to start accessing high grades from 2027.
A Resolution in the US which has been mired in legal challenges, remains an “attractive” proposition, Jackson said. The project’s advancement should benefit from the US including copper on the list of critical minerals.
“I remain optimistic the case for this exceptional ore body (Resolution) has never been stronger,” Jackson said.