Rio Tinto (RIO): 미래 금속 채굴

에너지 전환을 위한 채굴 준비

Mining is often seen as a dirty and low-tech industry by the broader public and as a poor investment compared to more innovative industries.

그리고 이는 산업의 많은 부분에 대해 확실히 사실이며, 자원을 가능한 가장 저렴한 방법으로 추출하는 데 더 큰 관심이 있습니다.

하지만 동시에 현대 세계는 채굴업자가 추출한 금속, 즉 리튬, 구리, 알루미늄, 티타늄, 희토류 위에 구축되어 있습니다. 이 모든 재료는 AI 데이터 센터, 전기차, 태양광 패널, 배터리, 우주선 등 다양한 분야의 기반이 됩니다.

따라서 에너지 전환과 혁신의 가장 화려한 부분은 아니지만, 여전히 중요한 구성 요소입니다. 그리고 일부 기업은 단순한 채굴을 넘어선 활동을 하고 있습니다.

대형 채굴업체들은 또한 연구개발(R&D) 강자로, 막대한 규모를 활용해 에너지와 물 소비, 오염을 줄이고 이러한 핵심 금속의 생산 방식을 전반적으로 개선하고 있습니다. 또한 석탄과 기본 금속에서 벗어나 미래에 전략적으로 중요한 리튬과 구리와 같은 금속으로 전환하고 있습니다.

전 세계 상위 5대 채굴업체 중, 리오 틴토만큼 지속 가능한 채굴 산업으로의 전환을 잘 보여주는 기업은 없습니다.

Rio Tinto 사업 개요: 핵심 금속 및 전략

Rio Tinto is the world’s second-largest mining company. The largest part of the company’s business is in iron ore, with significant historical assets in Australia, and a new mega mine in Africa.

하지만 구리와 알루미늄의 대규모 생산업체이기도 하며, 구리 생산 확대 계획도 강력합니다.

마지막으로, 몇몇 프로젝트와 2024년 Arcadium 리튬 인수를 통해 리튬 시장으로 빠르게 확장하고 있습니다.

한편, 회사는 티타늄, 붕소 및 알루미늄 생산에서도 선두주자이며, 마지막 금속은 희토류로의 확장 기회를 제공합니다(아래 참조).

이는 리오 틴토를 세계에서 가장 큰 상품 시장 중 일부의 주요 생산업체로 자리매김하게 합니다. 더 중요한 것은 대부분의 광산이 매우 크거나 고품질 광석을 포함하고 있어 효율적인 채굴 운영과 전 세계에서 가장 낮은 생산 비용을 가능하게 합니다.

호주, 미주 및 아프리카에 집중된 광산 덕분에 리오 틴토는 서방에 이 금속을 제공하는 가장 중요한 전략적 공급업체 중 하나이며, 생산량의 81% 이상이 OECD 국가에서 이루어집니다. 이는 위험이 높은 관할 구역에서 국유화와 재산권 남용이 투자자에게 큰 위험이 될 수 있기 때문에 중요합니다.

철광석: 필바라와 시만두가 리오 틴토의 핵심

필바라 – 호주

While the other metals are generating extra cash or might form the future of the company, the production of iron ore is the historical origin of the company and still the center of Rio Tinto’s activity.

Iron production is going to be insufficient in the years to come, with a massive supply gap developing in the late 2020s, due to smaller producers’ resources depleting.

And investments in new resources have been historically low in the 2016-2023 period. As new mines take years or even more than a decade to go from projects to full production, this almost guarantees that iron ore will be in tight supply in the coming decade.

A lot of Rio Tinto and the world’s iron is coming from the red soil of Western Australia, especially the Pilbara region, where Rio Tinto operates alongside other iron mining giants like BHP and Fortescue (FMG.AX).

Rio Tinto’s operations in the region cover 345 – 360 Mtpa (million tons per year) capacity with 13 mining hubs and 2,000 km (1,240 miles) of railroads to transport the ore to dedicated harbors.

시만두 – 기니

The company has been working hard to add the African Simandou deposit in Guinea, worth 60 Mtpa when completely developed.

It is a major endeavor in a country that until now has lacked the proper infrastructure to bring its ore to the sea and therefore, international markets. With the construction of 600km of railroad making the logistics possible, the operations at the mine co-owned by the Guinean government, a Chinese consortium, and Rio Tinto started in 2025년 11월.

“Today we are unlocking an exceptional new source of high-grade iron ore that is in demand from customers for low-carbon steel making, enhancing our world-class portfolio of iron ore mines in the Pilbara and Canada.”

Simon Trott – Rio Tinto Chief Executive

Today, the rail and ports are completed at 61%, and the mine is completed at 60%, with $3.3B spent on the project so far.

“The start of operations of the Simandou project is an important achievement guided by the consensus reached by the heads of state of the two countries. It reflects the joint efforts and pragmatic cooperation between China and Guinea, contributing to Guinea’s industrialisation and modernisation process.”

Wang Shilei – Chinalco President

구리, 리튬 및 핵심 금속 성장

스크롤하려면 스와이프 →

세계의 금속에 대한 수요

A few structural trends underline the need for more metal production in a world where most of the best ore bodies are already exploited or depleted.

The first one is population growth, with many of the largest countries on Earth in a phase of development that demands a lot of metal for infrastructure, basic consumer goods, etc., like China, India, Indonesia, and South-East Asian countries.

The other trend is electrification, which requires more batteries, electric motors, transformers, power lines, etc.

Meanwhile, it has never been slower and more expensive to develop new mines, limiting the development of large resource deposits to a handful of companies like Rio Tinto.

As a result, Rio Tinto has embraced a new strategy of increasing its production by 3% CAGR throughout the 2024-2033 period. We already discussed Simandou to keep growing the iron business and diversify from Australian sources. But the most transformative move by Rio Tinto is in copper and lithium.

전기화를 위한 구리: 오유 톨고이 및 기타 프로젝트

As the key metal for electrification, required in large quantities in every EV, battery, transformer, power cable, etc., copper is moving from an industrial commodity to a valuable strategic resource. Except that most of the largest copper ore deposits are already developed and depleting.

하지만 몽골 광산 Oyu Tolgoi는 구리 성장의 주요 동력이며, 지하 확장이 가속화되고 있습니다. Rio Tinto는 총 채굴 구리 생산량이 2025년에 860–875 kt에 이를 것으로 예상하며, Oyu Tolgoi가 수년간의 투자 후 그 증가에 상당히 기여할 것으로 보고 있습니다.

The copper from Mongolia is adding to the existing production in Chile and the USA, and will be joined in the long-term by the other projects of Nuevo Cobre in Chile (developed in partnership with Codelco), La Granja in Peru, Winu in Australia, and Resolution in the US.

Nuton

Another major endeavor in copper for Rio Tinto is Nuton, a technology venture for sustainable copper production. It has developed over 30 years an advanced bioleaching method to extract much more copper from ore than previous technologies.

This could radically change the world’s supply of copper by making hard-to-exploit ore economical. It uses bacteria and electromining to achieve recovery rates of up to 85%.

“The Nuton technology has the potential to change the game by making historically difficult-to-leach sulphide ores economically viable. We accomplish this by achieving industry-leading copper recovery rates of up to 85%, surpassing current industry norms.”

It could also help extract more copper from mining waste that until now could not be used fully. Nuton was produced for the first time in real-life conditions in early 2025.

시청: Rio Tinto’s Nuton Technology in Action (Video)

리튬: Arcadium, Rincon 및 리오 틴토의 배터리 금속 추진

Arcadium

New to the sector, Rio Tinto made a massive splash in the lithium industry when it completed the acquisition of Arcadium Lithium in early 2025.

Arcadium Lithium itself was the result of the merger of major lithium miners Livent and Allkem.

It was the third-largest lithium miner in the world, and the one with the world’s largest resource base, so also the one in the best position to grow its production.

“By combining Rio Tinto’s scale, financial strength, operational and project development experience with Arcadium’s Tier 1 assets, technical and commercial capabilities, we are creating a world-class lithium business which sits alongside our leading iron ore, aluminium and copper operations.”

Jakob Stausholm – Rio Tinto CEO

It is worth noticing that the acquisition was done in the tail end of a deep bottom in the lithium market, and that despite the low price of lithium in that period, Arcadium’s EBITDA margin in F1 2024 was still 40%, thanks to high-grade resource and best-in-class direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology.

Arcadium has been working on DLE since 1996, in combination with evaporation ponds, and recently made significant progress in making it commercially viable as a stand-alone extraction method.

Arcadium also developed LIOVIX, a form of printable lithium foil that could be used to boost battery performance, reduce manufacturing costs, and reduce lithium use.

Another major lithium project is Rincon, in the lithium triangle in Argentina. With a $2.5B of investment announced in 2024년 12월, this will turn into a large lithium producer, up to a capacity of 60,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year.

The Rincon mine’s lifespan is expected to be 40 years, with first production in 2028, followed by a 3-year ramp-up to full capacity.

Another project, Jadar, in Serbia, was supposed to add even more lithium production to Rio Tinto, with a target of the EU market. But protests and political instability have, for now, frozen the project.

알루미늄

Rio Tinto is also a large aluminum producer, with a complete presence in this metal supply chain, from bauxite ore to alumina to aluminum.

The company has based its aluminum operation in regions where it can source low-carbon, cheap energy, notably hydropower in Canada and hydro+geothermal energy in Iceland, but also in the USA.

The sector can benefit from the US tariffs, as local production is more profitable, and prices in the region moved to reflect the new tariff-including prices.

Another potential of the aluminum segment is that alumina is often rich in rare earth elements. One reason why China has become an expert at rare earth refining and production is that it mandated its aluminum refiners to also purify rare earths.

Rio Tinto is considering engaging in the same activity, which could provide a domestic and “friendshored” production of rare earth elements outside of China’s influence. It could also produce gallium from its aluminum production.

But a clearer market incentive for the move, or new policies, is likely needed for it to happen.

“The next thing is to look a little bit deeper at critical minerals, and you have to think about that, not necessarily as separate mines. The absence of a robust spot market for many critical minerals is why you don’t typically see the top five largest miners in this space.”

Jakob Stausholm – Rio Tinto chief executive

기타 프로젝트 및 금속

While non-essential to the company’s main activity, Rio Tinto also has several other mines worth mentioning:

• Diavik in Canada, producing diamonds.
• Dampier Salt, in Australia, producing sea salt.
• Burra, in Australia, a project for potential scandium production, used in aluminum alloys to improve flexibility and resistance to heat and corrosion.
• Boron production in California, providing 30% of global demand.
• Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium (RTIT), in Quebec, Canada, producing iron but also 19% of global titanium demand, as well as scandium, and Richards Bay Minerals, in South Africa, and QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM) in Madagascar.

혁신 및 지속 가능성

Besides Nuton’s new technology for copper extraction and Arcadium’s direct lithium extraction technology, Rio Tinto is heavily investing in reducing its carbon footprint and adopting new technologies quickly.

For example, it has started to use the first Caterpillar battery-electric haul trucks in the Pilbara jointly with BHP, replacing diesel trucks. (CAT )

“These trials will help us understand how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together: the battery technologies, generation and charging infrastructure, power management, as well as the supply chains to potentially deliver this at scale.”

Tim Day – BHP Western Australia Iron Ore Asset President

The company is promoting sustainability labels for aluminium, copper cathode, and metal powders.

It is developing the ELYSIS technology to produce low-carbon aluminum, allowing carbon-free electrolysis at scale for the first time ever in 2025년 8월.

Cadmium telluride (CdTe), used in thin-film solar panels like First Solar (FSLR ), is also produced from Rio Tinto Kennecott copper mine.

”More than 90% of tellurium is produced as a byproduct of copper smelting and refining, and Kennecott is one of two primary copper smelters left in the U.S.”

Rio Tinto also invested money in sustainability, like hydrogen-based alumina refining in partnership with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the Sumitomo Corporation, using marine biofuel for its ships, carbon capture with the Icelandic Carbfix and many other partners, biocarbon production with Amyium, etc.

Lastly, Rio Tinto has a venture capital (VC) branch, investing in startups working in mining, refining, metal alloys, and sustainability.

결론: 리오 틴토 (RIO) 가 미래 금속 주식인가?

Rio Tinto is a company whose products are absolutely essential to the modern industrial economy, from abundant iron for steel production to low-carbon aluminum, titanium, copper, lithium, and more.

The company also has a solid track record of maintaining a shareholder returns policy of 40 – 60% dividend payout, with a 9-year track record of 60% dividend payout.

Combined with the world’s ever-increasing demand for metal, the energy transition, population growth, and Rio Tinto’s steady increase in production for the next decade, this makes the stock a good pick for investors looking for strong dividends with some growth as well.

It is also a relatively safe mining stock in regard to jurisdiction risks, although investors should remember that such an issue is never perfectly safe with the mining industry.

Lastly, it is a force of innovation in the mining industry, from more efficient technology for copper and lithium extraction to low-carbon production of steel & aluminum, electrification of mining equipment, and thin-film solar’s raw material.

So, in a period of instability and inflation, or maybe even stagflation, gaining exposure to strategic commodities while also benefiting from the trend of electrification and the green transition could be the right move, while collecting dividends in the meantime.

최신 Rio Tinto (RIO) 주식 뉴스 및 개발