By Jason Scott Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Rio Tinto Group, the world's third biggest mining company, may lose as much as A$16 million ($11 million) in output because of a strike by its West Australian ore train drivers, according to the union representing the workers. The strike by 16 unionized train drivers is having ``a pretty dramatic impact on production'' at Rio Tinto's iron ore operations, Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union state secretary Gary Wood said in a phone interview today. The strike, which affected as many as eight trains, may have cost between A$12 million and A$16 million in lost output, he said. Rio Tinto declined to estimate the cost of the strike, said Gervase Greene, a spokesman for the London-based company. ``We'll leave the running commentary while the strike is still going to the CFMEU and its public relations company,'' Greene said. The strike, which started yesterday, is due to end at midday local time, Wood said, adding that it may affect operations until 10 p.m. tonight. Rio, which gets 30 percent of its sales from iron ore, fell 15 percent to A$66.33 in Sydney trading at 1:31 p.m. local time. The union is planning another 24-hour strike, with no date set, Wood said. Rio employs 315 train drivers in the Pilbara region of northwestern Australia to service 11 mines. Its trains are operated by a single driver and have about 230 ore cars, each able to carry 100 metric tons to Rio's two ports. A fully-loaded train weighs about 29,500 metric tons and is about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) in length. Rio owns 86 locomotives in the Pilbara area, and runs 1,300 kilometers of track for its mines, according to its Web site. To contact the reporter on this story: Jason Scott in Perth at jscott14@bloomberg.net

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