Rio Tinto turns to Hitachi to improve mining efficiency

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Argyle3 rdax
Argyle3 rdax

Anglo-Australian mining heavyweight Rio Tinto will form a strategic partnership with Japan’s Hitachi in order to increase the efficiency of its iron ore mining operations across Western Australia.

Image credit: www.riotinto.com. Photographer: Christian Sprogoe PhotographyDate: 27 July 2009
Image credit: www.riotinto.com. Photographer: Christian Sprogoe PhotographyDate: 27 July 2009

The strategic partnership will see the Japanese company provide its information technology for infrastructure management to improve Rio Tinto’s production efficiency in its mines in the Pilbara region.

Rio Tinto has 15 mines, three power plants, four ports and a 1,600km railway system at Pilbara, where it produces about 290 million tonnes of iron ore per year, more than double Japan’s 2013 imports.

According to Japan News, the two companies are planning to monitor the operating conditions of the mines by installing sensors on related equipment in order to optimise the use of railways and trucks to transport iron ore and cut production costs by around 10%.

It is also understood that Hitachi will send 100 engineers and other staff to Rio Tinto’s mining facilities in the Pilbara, and that orders for its IT systems may exceed the 10 billion yen mark ($91.6 million).

Adertisement

The agreement comes at a time when miners around the world are struggling to survive the impact of declining iron ore prices, which recently dropped to a six year low.

Hitachi, which is strong in IT and also has Hitachi Construction Machinery under its umbrella, will promote a comprehensive approach to improve efficiency to these firms.

If Hitachi’s technologies prove its efficiency by 2016, Rio Tinto will expand their application to other mines around the world.