Rio spends $350mln to automate iron ore rail line

SYDNEY, June 16 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto Ltd/Plc (RIO.AX) (RIO.L), the world's second-largest iron ore miner, said on Monday it will spend $350 million to introduce driverless trains on its iron ore railway in Australia as it moves to boost production.

Within five years, driverless trains will be operating on most of the 1,300 km (800 miles) of track that serves its Pilbara mines in far western Australia, it said.

Automating the trains will help it meet a goal of expanding annual iron ore production to 320 million tonnes in 2012, Rio said. Last year, Rio mined 135 million tonnes of ore, company figures show. Automation will also bring efficiency gains, it said.

A typical loaded train on the line weighs around 30,000 tonnes, is 2.4 km (1.5 miles) long and travels at speeds of up to 75 km per hour, Rio said. On average, 320 trains use the line per week.

During a start of trials of the system in January, Rio said it hoped to control operations with 320 employees from offices in Perth, some 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) away.

A mining frenzy spurred by a voracious appetite among Chinese steel mills for rich Australian ore has Rio and other miners, including BHP Billiton Ltd/Plc (BHP.AX)(BLT.L) and Fortescue Metals Group Ltd (FMG.AX) scrambling to fill orders. (Reporting by James Regan)