Rio Approves $5.3 Billion Oyu Tolgoi Copper Mine Expansion
- Output from underground site in Mongolia will begin in 2020
- Long-term outlook is strong for copper, Rio deputy CEO says
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Rio Tinto Group and its partners approved a $5.3 billion expansion to more than double output at the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine in Mongolia as producers race to meet a forecast global deficit by the end of the decade.
Work on the project will begin from the middle of this year and first production from the underground mine is expected in 2020, London-based Rio, the world’s-second biggest mining company, said Friday in a statement. When the underground is fully ramped up in 2027, Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce more than 500,000 metric tons of copper a year.