Hope Downs (Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting): an iron ore operation in Australia
Hope Downs (Rio Tinto and Hancock Prospecting) is an open-pit mine producing iron ore in Pilbara region, Western Australia, operated by Rio Tinto. The sources report 36,751 thousand tonnes ('000 t), marketable quantities of ore plus concentrates and pellets (saleable production) for CY2025; the basis is 100% of the operation, as reported by the operator (Total column). Measured as usable ore, whole-operation output for CY2025 is 36,751,000 tonnes: about 1.4% of world iron ore output in 2025 and about 3.8% of Australia's; it is one of 21 operations on this site whose output can be stated in usable ore.
Who owns and operates it?
| Owner | Interest | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Rio Tinto | 50% | 31 December 2025 |
| Hancock Prospecting Pty Ltd | 50% | 31 December 2025 |
How much does it produce?
| Period | Output | Basis | Where in the source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CY2025 | 36,751 thousand tonnes ('000 t), marketable quantities of ore plus concentrates and pellets (saleable production) | 100% of the operation, as reported by the operator (Total column) | PDF p.279 (printed p.277), 'Metals and minerals production' table, IRON ORE ('000 tonnes), row 'Hope Downs (Australia)', 2025 Total column · Rio Tinto |
| CY2024 | 41,956 thousand tonnes ('000 t), marketable quantities of ore plus concentrates and pellets (saleable production) | 100% of the operation, as reported by the operator (Total column) | PDF p.279 (printed p.277), 'Metals and minerals production' table, IRON ORE ('000 tonnes), row 'Hope Downs (Australia)', 2024 Total column · Rio Tinto |
| CY2025 | 18,375 thousand tonnes ('000 t), marketable quantities of ore plus concentrates and pellets (saleable production) | Rio Tinto share (50% interest at 31 December 2025) | PDF p.279 (printed p.277), 'Metals and minerals production' table, IRON ORE ('000 tonnes), row 'Hope Downs (Australia)', 2025 Rio Tinto share column · Rio Tinto |
Between CY2024 and CY2025 the reported figure fell by 12.4%, in the same unit and on the same basis.
How the usable-ore figure is worked out. Rio Tinto prints 36,751 thousand tonnes in the Total column for Hope Downs, with its 50% share at 18,375 thousand tonnes. The Total column is the whole-operation figure; the share is not added to it. World mine production of usable ore in 2025 was 2,600,000,000 tonnes (USGS Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026); Australia produced 980,000,000 tonnes.
Status: operating, as of 31 December 2025.
- Rio Tinto reports its Pilbara system as the Hamersley mines, Hope Downs, Robe Valley and West Angelas rows of the production table, which add to the 327.3 Mt of Pilbara production it prints on a 100% basis for 2025 (328.0 Mt in 2024). It defines the Pilbara segment as its holdings in Hamersley, the Hope Downs Joint Venture (50%), the Western Range Joint Venture (54%) and Robe River Iron Associates (65%; net beneficial interest 53%). Each physical operation is listed once; the 100% rows are used, not Rio Tinto's share.
- Rio Tinto's property list shows two mines in the joint venture, Hope Downs 1 and Hope Downs 4, and the production table gives one row for both.
How does it compare?
Other iron ore operations on this site: Hamersley mines (Rio Tinto Pilbara), Robe River - Robe Valley, Robe River - West Angelas, Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC), Simandou Blocks 3 and 4 (SimFer), Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO), Fortescue Pilbara hematite operations, Iron Bridge (magnetite), Onslow Iron, Serra Sul (S11D), Carajas, Serra Norte, Carajas, Itabira complex. In Australia: Hamersley mines (Rio Tinto Pilbara), Robe River - Robe Valley, Robe River - West Angelas, Western Australia Iron Ore (WAIO), Fortescue Pilbara hematite operations, Iron Bridge (magnetite), Onslow Iron. See where iron ore comes from for the country totals, the country page for Australia, and Rio Tinto for its other operations here.
Sources
- Rio Tinto: Annual Report 2025 (annual report (furnished to the SEC on Form 6-K, February 2026), CY2025 with 2024 and 2023 comparatives). Opened 4 November 2026; used: PDF pp.33, 160, 271, 279, 317-320 (printed pp.31, 158, 269, 277, 315-318); also PDF p.338 (listing).
- U.S. Geological Survey: Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026: Iron Ore (government statistical summary, 2025 (world and country mine production of usable ore)). Opened 3 November 2026; used: world and country mine production table, usable ore.
Method and limits
- Reported, not estimated. Output is the figure the operator or owner published, in the unit it used. This site does not estimate output where none is published.
- Shares. A share divides output in usable ore by the USGS world or country total for 2025. Where the operator's year is a fiscal year or the unit is a concentrate or a carbonate equivalent, the share is approximate or not given.
- What is compared. Operators print tonnes of ore: saleable production for most, run-of-mine and pelletizing feed for Vale, and shipments for Fortescue and Onslow Iron, mostly as wet tonnes. The figure is compared with the USGS usable-ore total, which does not state a moisture basis, so the share is indicative.
- Whole operation or owner's share. The basis column says which. A joint venture's output is never counted twice.
- Partial list. Only operations with a published figure are listed, so the rank is among those on this site, not among every iron ore mine. Shares of a country's output mix periods and bases, so treat them as indicative.
- Made with AI assistance, checked against sources. The facts were gathered from the documents above by AI-assisted research and re-checked against those documents by a second, independent pass; the page text is generated from the data. No professional review took place. How the site is made. To report an error, contact us; fixes are logged on the corrections page.