Rio Tinto port operations caught in Cyclone Sean carnage
Heavy rainfall brought by Cyclone Sean has flooded a crucial piece of Rio Tinto infrastructure that could be out of action for up to a month, impacting the mining giant’s output for the quarter.
Rio Tinto on Friday said the record deluge brought by the tropical cyclone in WA’s north had flooded a railcar dumper — a piece of equipment that transfers tonnes of ore from rail cars at its East Intercourse Island port facility.
That facility shipped 45 million tonnes of iron ore for the miner in 2024, with the dumper now set to be out of action for between three and four weeks.
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“Recovery works within the broader Iron Ore system are progressing, with the majority of rail and port operations now returned to operations.
“The company is working to mitigate impacts and will provide an update at its full year results on 19 February 2025.”
Rio’s results for the quarter are likely to be impacted.
The miner estimated about 274mm of rain had fallen on Karratha on 20 January 2025.
Originally published on The Nightly
