More mining demand in next 20 years than in past 10 000 years – Rio Tinto

JOHANNESBURG （miningweekly.com） – Global demand will require the mining industry to mine, process and move more materials and minerals in the next 20 years than it has in the past 10 000 years, says Rio Tinto CE diamonds and minerals Harry Kenyon-Slaney.

“We expect consumption trends to lead to a doubling in the demand for iron-ore, copper and aluminium over the next 15 to 20 years,” Kenyon-Slaney says.

He says that the 21st century offers great opportunities for Africa and for mining companies to do business on the continent.

“Rio Tinto has a global head, but a local heart, and we will play a important part in responsible development in Africa.

“We’re committed to partnering the community where we do business, for their long-term benefit, and to working tirelessly with governments to overcome the challenges that they face,” Kenyon-Slaney adds.

With eight operations in Southern Africa and West Africa representing the spectrum of its portfolio, Rio Tinto intends to employ more women and more Africans in leadership roles.

The company has interests in aluminium in Guinea and Cameroon, iron-ore in Guinea, copper in South Africa, titanium dioxide in South Africa and Madagascar, diamonds in Zimbabwe and uranium in Namibia.

The company has spent more than $70-million in greenfield exploration across Africa in the last three years, which amounts to 13% of its global exploration expenditure.

Among the company’s developmental pursuits is to produce a more concentrated titanium dioxide slag in South Africa, which is further refined in Canada through a proprietary upgrading process.

A new R1,2-billion tailings treatment plant, which last week processed its first product, has been established at Richards Bay Minerals in KwaZulu-Natal.

Rio Tinto is investing more than $350-million in local infrastructure in Madagascar, including a deep-water port to accommodate ilmenite exports and open up the area to other vessels in support of local economic development.

The company supplies 60% of South Africa’s copper metal from Palabora, where it is designing the second lift of the underground block cave and where it is working with South Africa’s State-owned Industrial Development Corporation to establish an iron-making facility using the large reserves of magnetite.

In diamonds, it is a fundamental principle of Rio Tinto, which mines diamonds in Zimbabwe, to comply with the Kimberley Process, a certification designed to ensure that diamonds are not conflicted.

“We work with the Kimberley Process and the national government, so that the certificates are provided for the Murowa diamonds, which have nothing to do with Marange diamonds. The Marange field is in a completely separate part of Zimbabwe and has nothing to do with Rio Tinto,” Kenyon-Slaney says.

Nongovernmental organisations Global Witness and Partnership Africa Canada have shone a critical spotlight on the controversial Marange diamond fields.

“We’ve been working in Zimbabwe for the best part of 50 years. We have a strong position in the country. We do wonderful work in the local community and we continue to access the optionality around Murowa.

“In the event that there is additional value at Murowa, we will look at it, but it’s a long-term process, and we continue to work with the government and the local authorities to look for opportunities,” he tells Mining Weekly Online.

Currently a moderately sized 140 000 ct/y operation, the Murowa resource is understood to have the potential to be expanded to six or seven times its current production.

Kenyon-Slaney describes Zimbabwe as being “highly prospective”。

Zimbabweans own 22% of Murowa through Rio-Zim, while Rio Tinto owns 78%.