Rio shipped 68.0 million tonnes on iron ore in the three months to the end of September, up 4% on the previous three months and 11% on this stage of 2012.
Sam Walsh, chief executive of the mining giant, said: “In iron ore, we achieved record production and shipments in Western Australia following the official opening of our landmark Pilbara 290 port and rail expansion, four months ahead of its original schedule and $400m under budget.
