Rio Tinto said on Sunday its majority-owned Mesa A/Warramboo iron ore mine has begun producing iron ore last Friday. The Western Australian project took more than two years of construction and cost about US$ 901 million; the British-Australian miner has a 53% stake at the deposit, which will produce 20 million tonnes a year in 2010 and increase to 25 million tonnes by next year. High-grade reserves at the Mesa A/Warramboo deposit were estimated to be 249 million tonnes, with a mine life of 11 years, the company said.
