Rio Tinto has ramped up its spending with suppliers in Western Australia to a record A$10.3-billion in 2024, up A$1.5-billion from last year, as the global miner accelerates investment in new Pilbara iron-ore projects and deepens its local economic footprint.

The jump in spending was driven in large part by capital investment in the $2-billion Western Range mine, where work on heavy mining equipment and earthworks is underway ahead of a targeted mid-year start.

The miner, which is progressing a pipeline of new projects in the region, also gave the green light in April to the $1.8-billion Brockman Syncline 1 development, further underscoring its long-term commitment to sustaining output and supporting regional businesses.

Spending with Indigenous-owned businesses in the state surged 30% to a record A$769-million in 2024, according to Rio Tinto. In the Pilbara region alone, the company contributed A$969-million to local businesses, with about 60% of that allocated to Indigenous enterprises. Traditional Owner businesses accounted for more than A$529-million of the spend.

Rio said it now works with around 2 400 suppliers across Western Australia each year and has more than doubled its annual spend in the state since 2018, reflecting its strategy to anchor development and supply chains closer to home.

Meanwhile, the company is also stepping up its use of domestic manufacturing across its iron-ore business. Rio says it has built its first locally made iron-ore rail car in Western Australia.

The company is investing about A$150-million to purchase 100 locally built rail cars, as well as continued investment in bearing refurbishment for its Pilbara operations.

Its partnership with Gemco Rail and CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock is also supported by the Western Australian government and establishes a new local supply chain that delivers jobs and boosts manufacturing in the state.

The first 40 rail cars will be built at Gemco’s Forrestfield facility in Perth, as it sets up a manufacturing workshop in Karratha, where 60 more rail cars will be made, starting later this year.

The new Karratha facility will create a manufacturing and bearing maintenance industry in the Pilbara, supporting up to 25 jobs in the region.

“We want to support local business and create new economic opportunities in the communities where we operate," says Rio Tinto iron-ore CE Simon Trott.

“By partnering with Gemco Rail and CRRC Qiqihar Rolling Stock, we are establishing new manufacturing capability in the Pilbara that will create a reliable and sustainable supply chain to support our operations and the regional economy for years to come.”

Gemco Rail is using advanced engineering and manufacturing expertise, alongside robotic welding technologies, to create rail cars that will each carry up to 118 t of iron-ore from Rio Tinto’s 17 mines in the Pilbara to its ports.

The new Karratha workshop will also support the supply of new and reconditioned rail car bearings from the Pilbara and reduce the need to transport iron-ore rail cars and bearings from Perth.

Rio uses about 13 500 iron-ore rail cars across its Pilbara iron-ore rail network. It typically replaces about 10 retired iron-ore rail cars with new rail cars a year. The first locally made rail cars by Gemco are expected to start hauling ore in the Pilbara in the first half of 2025.