The Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO) share price is in focus after the miner announced its 2025 third quarter production update.
Rio Tinto is one of the largest miners in the world, with commodities such as iron ore, copper, bauxite, aluminium and more.
Rio Tinto 2025 third quarter update
The miner told investors in an ASX announcement how much it produced of each of its most important commodities compared to the third quarter of 2024 (year on year) and the second quarter of 2025 (quarter on quarter)
It said its Pilbara iron ore production was 84.1mt, flat year on year and quarter on quarter. As part of its iron ore replacement strategy, the West Angelas sustaining project received all government approvals in October.
The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) iron ore pellets and concentrate production was 2.3mt, up 11% year on year and down 6% quarter on quarter.
Bauxite production was 16.4mt, up 9% year on year and up 5% quarter on quarter.
Aluminium production was 0.86mt, up 6% year on year and up 2% quarter on quarter.
Copper production was 204kt, up 10% year on year and down 11% quarter on quarter. Copper production was driven by a strong ramp-up at Oyu Tolgoi. The Kennecott mine performed as expected during the quarter while major planned maintenance at the concentrator and smelter commenced successfully.
Titanium dioxide slag production was 0.3mt, down 1% year on year and down 3% quarter on quarter.
Boric oxide production was 0.1mt, up 2% year on year and down 3% quarter on quarter.
Other updates
The miner said that it has a new operating model and executive team to simplify the business and unlock additional shareholder value. The new structure comprises iron ore, aluminium & lithium and copper.
Rio Tinto said borates and iron & titanium have been placed under strategic review.
As a result of the performance of its bauxite segment, the miner upgraded the 2025 guidance to between 59mt to 61mt, up from 57mt to 59mt.
Management comments
The Rio Tinto CEO Simon Trott said:
Safety remains our number one priority. We are deeply saddened by the tragic death of Mohamed Camara at the SimFer mine site and are committed to learning across our business to prevent future incidents. This has been a time for huge reflections on safety across the group.
We continue to strengthen performance from our assets, setting back-to-back quarterly production records in our bauxite business and at Oyu Tolgoi – where the underground ramp-up remains on track to boost copper output by more than 50% this year.
We are focused on delivering a strong finish to the year from the Pilbara. Our growth projects are also progressing at pace – at Simandou, we started loading first ore at the mine for movement down the rail and to the port in October.
We are on track to meet production guidance for 2025, with an upwards revision to bauxite this quarter, and are well positioned to deliver compelling mid-term production growth. We will continue to deliver further shareholder value through operational excellence, simplification and discipline on performance and capital investment.
Final thoughts on the Rio Tinto share price
I like the diversification of Rio Tinto’s mining portfolio, but the current valuation is not particularly appealing considering it’s at a 52-week high. I prefer to look at miners like this one when they’re close to a 52-week low due to the cyclical nature of resource prices. But, I like the outlook for copper.
There are other ASX dividend shares that look like more appealing buys.
