Operations & financial report
HIsmelt®
(Rio Tinto: 60 per cent)
The HIsmelt® iron making project at Kwinana in Western Australia is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (60 per cent interest through its subsidiary, HIsmelt Corporation), US steelmaker Nucor Corporation (25 per cent), Mitsubishi Corporation (ten per cent), and Chinese steelmaker Shougang Corporation (five per cent). The project produced 115,000 tonnes of pig iron and achieved a number of production records in 2007, its second year of ramp up as it builds towards a planned capacity of 800,000 tonnes per annum. The project was visited by Chinese president Hu Jintao in September 2007.


