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Rio Tinto hopes copper production can begin at its new Pilbara project by 2023.

Rio Tinto on Tuesday also revealed the discovery a new zone of gold-dominant mineralisation two kilometres east of Winu – a prospect called Ngapakarra – as well as a number of other encouraging drilling results in close proximity to the maiden Winu resource. Rio said these provided"further encouragement"about the potential for the development of multiple ore bodies within one system.

"It's telling us there is absolutely a bigger district to play here,"Mr McIntosh said.

Morgans analysts said Rio was approaching the development of Winu with a strategy more commonly used by junior miners – starting with a small-scale development targeting high-grade core before larger-scale development.

"A very interesting approach,and time will tell if the big miner can utilise this small miner strategy effectively,"analyst Adrian Prendergast said.

"Our view is Rio is taking this approach so that it can get Winu producing as quickly and as efficiently as possible."

UBS mining analyst Glyn Lawcock said the market had been somewhat surprised by the"aggressive timeline"Rio had set for Winu's first production in 2023."A positive if it can be achieved,"he said.

Rio has explored just 2 per cent of its tenements in the Pilbara's Paterson region so far. Mr McIntosh said the latest findings in the area signalled"the job's not done in Australia in terms of exploration".

"There's a lot more to be found,we just need to get at it in a more purposeful way,"he said.

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