Rio Tinto boosted iron ore production by six per cent to a record 127.2 million tonnes during the first half of the year.
The world's second largest iron ore miner also shipped a record 118.6 million tonnes of the steelmaking mineral, a four per cent lift.
The record result came despite a broken conveyor that sidelined one of five ship loaders for almost three weeks and unseasonal rain that caused flooding in the Pilbara.
That occurred in the June quarter when shipments were 61.3 million tonnes, only one per cent above a year ago.
Capacity in the Pilbara is on time and budget to have expanded to run at 290 million tonnes per year by the end of the September, Rio Tinto said in a statement.
Copper production for the half jumped 17 per cent to more than 296,000 tonnes.
Copper grades had improved at its Escondida, Chile and Utah mines, offset by the shutdown of the Bingham Canyon mine after a wall slide.
The $US6.2 billion ($A6.84 billion) Oyu Tolgoi copper project in Mongolia made its first shipment of copper concentrate last week.
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