30th Dec 2019 07:35
(Alliance News) - Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto PLC has begun the resumption of operations at Richards Bay in South Africa, it announced on Monday.
Rio Tinto had halted operations at the start of January, saying it feared for the safety of employees due to "violence in the communities surrounding the operations".
The company said one employee had been shot, and seriously injured, leading to the suspension of activity at the site, which produces minerals such as ilmenite, one of the main ores of titanium.
Rio Tinto said on Monday a phased restart will now begin, leading to full production being reached in early 2020.
Bold Baatar, the head of Energy & Minerals at Rio Tinto, said: "The safety and security of our people is always our first priority and we are pleased that we will now be able to get back to work creating value for our people, our communities, South Africa and Richards Bay Minerals's shareholders.
"I would like to thank the government of South Africa and the premier of KwaZulu-Natal for their support and assistance in getting us to a position where we can restart operations at RBM. I would also acknowledge the work of community leaders and the police over the previous few weeks."
Rio Tinto reiterated previous guidance given when announcing the shutdown, with titanium dioxide production for 2019 now set to be at the bottom end of the guided range of 1.2 million to 1.4 million tonnes.
By George Collard; [email protected]
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