Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto has resumed operations at its Richards Bay Minerals project in South Africa after a month of closure. On July 21, the miner decided to shut down its furnace number 4 following insufficient supply of raw materials.
The impact from the suspension of operations was yet to be evaluated, informed company officials.
The miner has restarted operations after ensuring the safety of the area around the mine and that of employees. Security was enhanced after a constructive engagement with host communities and their traditional authorities in the South African site along with support from the national and provincial government.
The company hopes to ramp up capacities and restore them to earlier levels of daily production at the earliest.
The company declared a force majeure on customer contracts at the project in June, citing “an escalation in the security situation at the operations”, which currently still in place.
The Richards Bay Mineral (RBM) project in South Africa is responsible for mining, refining, and smelting of heavy minerals or ore deposits.