Rio Tinto resumes operations at Richards Bay Minerals

Mining operations at RBM were stopped in June due to safety concerns following the fatal shooting of a senior manager.

Rio said the resumption of operations follows a stabilisation of the security situation around the mine, supported by the national and provincial government, as well as substantive engagement with host communities and their traditional authorities.

Rio’s chief executive of Minerals, Sinead Kaufman, said: "The safety and security of our people has been our priority throughout and we recognise the collaboration and constructive dialogue we have had with all stakeholders to get us into a position where we can restart operations and resume contributing to the host communities, KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa.

"I also acknowledge the resilience and dedication shown by all our people at RBM over the past weeks."

Rio said operations will be ramping up to capacity as soon as possible, with the overall impact of the suspension still to be assessed.

"At this time, the force majeure declared on customer contracts remains in place," it said.