Rio Tinto Ltd's
(ASX:RIO) chief Tom Albanese says the global miner’s Mongolian copper and gold project is on track, despite tensions with its Canadian partner Ivanhoe Mines.
In an interview with ABC TV Mr Albanese says that he would like to fast track the development of Oyu Tolgoi project to see first production in 2013.
The optimism is despite the global miner blocking Ivanhoe Mines plans to raise over $1 billion to speed up the project, which would have seen first production in the last quarter of 2012.
Last week Rio announced it would spend an additional US$2.1 billion to expand capacity at its iron ore operations in the Pilbara of Western Australia.
Rio Tinto posted a $7.36 billion profit in the first six months of the year.
