Rio Tinto to raise mining spend on Asian demand

Rio Tinto today said it would be jacking up the amount it spends on digging copper and other metals and minerals out of the ground as demand comes on strong again from Asia.

Chief executive Tom Albanese told investors he was now planning to spend up to $1 billion more extracting from its mines, most of which have been put on go-slow during the global recession.

Total expenditure for 2009 will be about $5 billion, rising to potentially $6 billion in 2010, he said.

That 2010 figure includes $2.5 billion to $3.5 billion on what Rio calls "growth projects", those major mines like the Pilbara iron ore mine in Australia and others which have been idling of late.

"With early signs of economic recovery, we are now well placed to look ahead to 2010 and beyond," Albanese said.

There was no update on the planned Australian joint venture with rival BHP Billiton.