21 January 2026<\/p>\n
Standout production results with +8% CuEq production growth in 2025<\/p>\n
Rio Tinto Chief Executive Simon Trott said: \u201cOur operations delivered exceptional production performance, both on a quarter-on-quarter and full year basis, as we leverage our strong foundation of operating excellence and project delivery across our portfolio.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe achieved record quarterly iron ore production in the Pilbara, with a strong recovery from the extreme weather interruptions earlier in the year. At Simandou, we celebrated the major milestone of first shipment from the port; a testament to our ability to deliver major growth projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecord copper production continues following delivery of our Oyu Tolgoi underground project, another demonstration of our unique and diverse project capabilities.<\/p>\n
\u201cA step change in bauxite production through the year once again highlights the ongoing maturation of our operational excellence.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn lithium, we achieved production growth from our operations and in-flight projects as planned in 2025, as we build out our high-quality portfolio with discipline.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cImplementation of our stronger, sharper, simpler way of working continues, and is delivering results and creating value.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 Executive Summary<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Operational excellence:\u00a0Copper equivalent (CuEq)1\u00a0production rose 8% YoY in 2025, with shipments up 5%, driven by the strong ramp-up of Oyu Tolgoi, a record year for bauxite production and our world-class lithium business.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Iron ore:\u00a0Pilbara operations achieved\u00a0record Q4 production, +4% YoY, and shipments, +7% YoY,\u00a0while the exceptional development pace at Simandou continued with the start of operations and first shipment in Q4.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Aluminium:\u00a0Production strength\u00a0and agility demonstrated across the aluminium value chain in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lithium:\u00a0Achieved\u00a0record quarterly production\u00a0from our operating assets in Argentina.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Copper:\u00a0Annual production grew 11% YoY,\u00a0exceeding the top end of our increased guidance range, driven by the successful ramp-up of Oyu Tolgoi, where the underground development project is now complete.<\/p>\n
Production2\u00a0Q42025vs Q4
2024\u00a02025vs 20242025 guidancePilbara iron ore shipments (100% basis)Mt91.3\u00a0 \u00a0 +7%326.2\u00a0 \u00a0-1%323 \u2013 338(at lower end)Pilbara iron ore production (100% basis)Mt89.7\u00a0 \u00a0 +4%327.3\u00a0 \u00a0 \u2013 %NAIOC3\u00a0iron ore pellets and concentrateMt2.2\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0-14%9.3\u00a0 \u00a0-1%9.0 \u2013 9.5BauxiteMt15.4\u00a0 0%62.4\u00a0 \u00a0 +6%>61 MtAluminaMt2.0\u00a0 \u00a0-1%7.6\u00a0 \u00a0 +4%7.4 \u2013 7.8Aluminium4Mt0.85\u00a0 \u00a0 +2%3.38\u00a0 \u00a0 +3%3.25 \u2013 3.45(at upper end)Copper (consolidated basis)kt240\u00a0 \u00a0 +5%883\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 +11%860 \u2013 875Titanium dioxide slagMt0.2\u00a0 \u00a0-6%1.0\u00a0 \u00a0-2%1.0 \u2013 1.2(at lower end)Boric oxide equivalentMt0.1\u00a0 \u00a0-6%0.5\u00a0 0%~0.5<\/p>\n
1\u00a0Copper equivalent volume = Rio Tinto\u2019s share of production volume \/ Volume conversion factor x Product price ($\/t) \/ Copper price ($\/t). Prices are based on long-term consensus prices.\u00a02\u00a0Rio Tinto share unless otherwise stated.\u00a03\u00a0Iron Ore Company of Canada.4\u00a0Includes primary aluminium only.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0 Guidance<\/p>\n
Production guidance<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2025 guidance: met or exceeded for our Product Groups.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2026 guidance1: unchanged from Capital Markets Day 2025 disclosures, as shown in the table below.<\/p>\n
Production and sales2Units2026 guidance1Total iron ore salesMt4343 \u2013 366Pilbara sales3\u00a0(100% basis)Mt4323 \u2013 338Simandou sales (100% basis)Mt45 \u2013 10IOC5\u00a0sales (100% basis)Mt415 \u2013 18Copper production (consolidated)6kt800 \u2013 870Aluminium & Lithium\u00a0\u00a0Bauxite productionMt58 \u2013 61Alumina production7Mt7.6 \u2013 8.0Aluminium production8Mt3.25 \u2013 3.45Lithium, LCE productionkt61 \u2013 64<\/p>\n
1\u00a0Guidance remains subject to weather impacts.\u00a02\u00a0Rio Tinto share unless otherwise stated. Our strategic reviews are advancing as planned, with the next phase focused on identifying the best path to unlock value. As such, we will no longer provide production guidance for Iron & Titanium, and Borates, while this process is underway.\u00a03\u00a0Pilbara iron ore guidance remains subject to the timing of approvals for planned mining areas and heritage clearances.\u00a04\u00a0Wet metric tonnes.\u00a05\u00a0Iron Ore Company of Canada.\u00a06\u00a0Circa 10% YoY growth from operated assets.\u00a07\u00a0QAL production now included on a 100% basis for guidance.\u00a0\u00a08\u00a0Includes primary aluminium only.<\/p>\n
Unit cost guidance<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2025 unit cost performance and 2026 guidance will be given in the 2025 full year results release on 19 February 2026.<\/p>\n
3. Group financial update\u00a0<\/p>\n
Expenditure on exploration and evaluation<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pre-tax and pre-divestment expenditure on exploration and evaluation charged to the profit and loss account in 2025 was $795 million, compared with $935 million in 2024. Approximately 40% of the spend was by Copper, 32% by central exploration, 19% by Iron Ore (which includes Iron Ore Company of Canada), 8% by other operations and 1%\u00a0by Aluminium & Lithium. Qualifying expenditure on the Rincon project has been capitalised since 1 July 2024, accounting for most of the decrease in expense.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"21 January 2026 Standout production results with +8% CuEq production growth in 2025 Rio Tinto Chief Executive Simon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[20718],"tags":[4122,47542,12991],"class_list":["post-116120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rio-tinto","tag-4122","tag-fourth-quarter-production-results","tag-rio-tinto"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117202920551436215","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}