Australia-based miner Rio Tinto, the world's second biggest iron ore producer, has announced that in the fourth quarter of last year iron ore production from its Pilbara operations in Western Australia increased by one percent quarter on quarter and decreased by two percent year on year to 84.1 million mt. In the given quarter, the company's iron ore shipments from its Pilbara operations amounted to 84.1 million mt, falling by five percent from the same quarter of the previous year and up by one percent compared to the third quarter.