Rio Tinto says it's on track to release about $US5 billion ($A7.2 billion) in capital by the end of 2026, after strong mine performance helped lift third quarter iron ore sales from its Pilbara operations above market expectations.
The world's largest iron ore producer sold 85.7 million metric tonnes of the steel-making commodity from Pilbara in the quarter ended on September 30, up two per cent from a year earlier. The result was also ahead of a Visible Alpha consensus estimate of 84.41 million tonnes.
The miner said it had already released more than $US2 billion in capital this year under a $US5 billion-$US10 billion optimisation program unveiled at its 2025 Capital Markets Day, aimed at supporting higher-return growth projects.
Copper output was broadly flat at 205,000 tonnes as a 27 per cent rise at Mongolia's Oyu Tolgoi mine offset lower production at Chile's Escondida and weaker refined copper output from Kennecott in the United States.
Rio maintained its 2026 Pilbara iron ore sales forecast of 323 million to 338 million tonnes.
The company has shipped 243.4 million tonnes so far this year, implying it needs to ship 79.6 million tonnes in the fourth quarter to reach the lower end of the target range. The fourth quarter is typically Rio's strongest period.
In lithium, Rio said full-year production was now expected at the lower end of its 61,000-64,000 tonne forecast range, citing a slower-than-anticipated ramp-up at its Sal de Vida project in Argentina.
Rio's Simandou project in Guinea sold 1.7 million wet metric tonnes of iron ore in the first nine months. To meet the lower end of its full-year sales forecast of five million to 10 million tonnes, the project will need to sell about 3.3 million tonnes in the December quarter.