The head of exploration at mining company Rio Tinto PLC (RIO.LN) said Tuesday there was no sign that the world would run out of iron ore.

"Peak iron ore is not on the horizon," said Eric Finlayson at a conference in London . "Even if no more high-grade deposits were to be found, technology and price incentive will allow the industry to mine lower grades into the future," he added.

He said iron ore demand growth had averaged 3% a year for the past 100 years.

Finlayson also said the world's second-largest iron ore producer had drilled 2.8 million metric meters of iron ore since 2001, and was forecast to drill 400,000 meters each year between 2010 and 2014.

He added the company had invested A$38 billion at its Australian operations, mostly in Pilbara, between 2000 and 2009, which was A$1 billion more than its net earnings from the country during the same period.

As a result of such high costs, he said, miners would need to access non-traditional sources of capital for future projects.
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