Global miner Rio Tinto has revised its refined copper guidance for the year, due to a delay in the resumption of operations at its Kennecott mine in Utah.
According to a release dated August 18, Rio now aims to produce 135,000-175,000mt of refined copper this year, reduced from the original range of 165,000-205,000mt.
The company’s Kennecott mine in South Jordan, Utah was shuttered on April 3 due to a 5.7 magnitude earthquake. Since then, Rio has delayed the restart of smelting operations at the facility due to “unexpected issues” that followed planned maintenance.
Rio also lowered its consolidated copper production guidance to 475,000-520,000mt for the year in its H1 outlook.
Kennecott, which produced around 186,000mt of refined copper in 2019, accounts for 20pc of Rio’s total US copper output.