Rio Tinto(US:RIO) Globenewswireยท2025-10-29 12:00Core Points - Rio2 Limited provides an update on the Fenix Gold Project, which is 63% complete and on track for first gold production in January 2026 [1][3] Construction Progress - As of Q3 2025, a total of 1,865,791 person-hours have been worked with a Lost Time Incident Frequency Rate (LTIFR) of 1.61 and a Total Incident Frequency Rate (TIFR) of 8.58 [2] - Total expenditure since November 2024 is $86.7 million, slightly above the budget of $86.6 million [3] - 12.7 hectares of geosynthetics have been installed on the leach pad, ensuring six months of production capacity [4] - Mining of ore began in August, with 87,000 tonnes of ore placed on the leach pad at an average gold grade of 0.45 g/t, equating to 1,260 ounces [5] Infrastructure Development - The Pregnant Leach Solution (PLS) pond is complete and ready for hydrostatic testing, with water trucking initiated to fill the pond by mid-November [6] - Haul Road 1 is complete, and Haul Road 4 is largely finished [6] - Key components of the Adsorption, Desorption, Recovery (ADR) Plant have been installed, including diesel generators and reactors for chemical reactivation [7] Human Resources - The project currently employs 1,521 personnel, with 94% being Chileans, 44% from the Atacama Region, and 13% female [8] Exploration and Resource Management - Grade control drilling at Fenix South was completed in July, with preliminary analysis indicating close reconciliation of the grade control model to the reserve model [9] Future Milestones - Upcoming milestones include filling the PLS pond, leach process commissioning in November, plant commissioning in December/January, and the first gold pour in January 2026 [15]