Copper takes shine off Rio Tinto result
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MINING giant Rio Tinto has had an uncharacteristically subdued fourth quarter, missing copper guidance and analyst forecasts and not delivering to some expectations on iron ore.
Mined copper output slumped 23 per cent from the previous quarter to 128,300 tonnes, as the big Escondida mine in Chile, which Rio (RIO) owns in a joint venture with BHP Billiton, was hit by water restrictions.
The Rio-operated Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia was hit by a fire at the concentrator.
Deutsche Bank had been expecting quarterly production of 147,600 tonnes and UBS was predicting 138,900.
As a result of the weak quarter, 2014 mined copper production of 603,000 tonnes missed guidance of 615,000 tonnes.