Rio Tinto targets $7.2 billion capital release as iron ore sales exceed expectations

Rio Tinto announced that it expects to release around $US5 billion (approximately $A7.2 billion) in capital by the end of 2026, driven by robust performance at its Pilbara mines. In the third quarter, the company shipped 85.7 million metric tonnes of iron ore, outpacing the Visible Alpha consensus figure of 84.41 million tonnes. Under a $US5-$US10 billion optimisation programme unveiled at its 2025 Capital Markets Day, Rio has already freed more than $US2 billion this year.

Copper production held at about 205,000 tonnes, with a rise at Mongolia’s Oyu Tolgoi compensating lower output at Chile’s Escondida and reduced refined copper from Kennecott in the United States. The firm kept its 2026 Pilbara sales guidance of 323-338 million tonnes, having already moved 243.4 million tonnes this year and counting on a strong fourth quarter. In lithium, full-year output is now expected at the lower end of the 61,000-64,000 tonne range due to a slower ramp-up at the Sal de Vida project in Argentina. Simandou in Guinea sold 1.7 million wet metric tonnes in the first nine months and will need to sell about 3.3 million tonnes in the December quarter to hit the lower end of its annual target.