“A continued focus on financial and operating discipline delivered first half cost savings of $641 million, representing 85% of our original full year target, which we have now increased to $1.0 billion. We continue to invest in growth, and have reached key milestones in three of our growth projects with the expansion of our Pilbara iron ore infrastructure, first production from our expanded Kitimat aluminium smelter and an agreement to progress the development of the Oyu Tolgoi underground copper mine.”
Kathleen Brooks, Research Director at www.cityindex.co.uk said on the announcement: “Rio Tinto’s earnings may have beaten profit expectations by coming in at $2.9bn for the first half of this year, but they are more than 40% lower than last year’s results, which highlights how tough the past 12 months has been for commodity producers.”
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