Total mineral resources exclusive of ore reserves have increased by 1,376Mt, from 5,429Mt to 6,805Mt.
These increases to Mineral Resources include HVO Mineral Resources increasing by 458 Mt to 1,831Mt; Warkworth Mineral Resources increased by 138Mt to 613 Mt; Hail Creek Mineral Resources increased by 419Mt to 591Mt; Kestrel and Kestrel West Mineral Resources increased by 164Mt to 306Mt; and Winchester South Mineral Resources increased by 164Mt to 356Mt.
Rio Tinto’s Mt Robert contains a maiden Mineral Resource estimate of 31Mt.
“The upgrades have resulted from a program of orebody knowledge and strategic mine planning optimisation undertaken at Rio Tinto Coal Australia,” the company said. “They are based on a rigorous examination of all Rio Tinto Coal Australia leases that included consolidating and analysing a large volume of new and legacy geology data sets for all sites; reinterpreting and standardising all of the New South Wales and Queensland geology models, employing an expanded range of available data sets; updating the strategic mine planning processes and tools used to estimate Ore Reserves; and adopting more efficient Mineral Resource estimation methods.”
These increases in ore reserves and mineral resources reflect a continuation of the work announced in 2014.
