Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh
Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh poses during a photo call to announce Rio Tinto's 2015 interim results in London, Britain August 6, 2015. Walsh said on Thursday he sees 120 million tonnes of global iron ore capacity exiting the market this year. Reuters/Neil Hall

Rio Tinto CEO Sam Walsh has urged his employees to keep up the good work after a significant third quarter performance, defeating the negative comments about the mining sector from the past few months.

Walsh wrote an internal memo for his team, saying that the third quarter report of the company had indicated the productiveness of employees in managing costs, enhancing productivity and assuring efficiency. He also said that the September quarterly report released on Friday had increased the number of rivals across the market.

He also pointed out how iecreasing commodity prices have given analysts a chance to criticise the mining sector. “Low commodity prices make it easy for pundits to tell sorrowful stories about our sector,” Walsh said via the Sydney Morning Herald. “I’m pleased we’re making it harder for them by delivering strong performance.”

The shipment of iron ore from January to September rose to 13 percent, compared to that of last year. Hard coking coal production was recorded up to 10 percent within the nine months since the first three quarters of 2014. The shipment of bauxite increased to four percent, while mined copper transport decreased to 17 percent. Titanium dioxide production also fell to 23 percent.

Walsh asked his employees to not let their performance slip in a hugely challenging market scenario. “We know the markets will continue to be challenging, so the strength we are showing is essential,” he wrote in the memo, adding, “The tough market environment isn’t letting up, so neither can we.” He also said that each and every dollar counts.

In addition to Rio Tinto's achievements, Walsh focused on the areas that his employees needed to put more effort into improvising processes. He said that one of the goals of the company after the third quarter report was to offer a better and safer working environment to staff members, noting the deaths caused to employees riding vehicles across the bridge that was destroyed near the Simandou project in Guinea.

Walsh joined CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Thomas J Donohue, in a conversation on the global economy in September. He said that innovation was one of the major parts of Rio Tinto that helped the company in controlling processes, managing risks and creating value across the market. He advocated the operational strategies and financial efforts that aid businesses to stay competitive in the market.

Walsh made particular mention of the company's reclamation projects in Washington and Utah.

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