Rio Tinto officials have admitted that challenges in the near-term could hamper the mining firm's full-growth capability, chief of which is the increasing cost of producing the company's prime commodities - iron ore and coal.

Despite the anticipated difficulties, Rio Tinto chief executive Tom Albanese informed the company's investors on Thursday that previously announced production expansion will proceed as planned, specifically the goal of ramping up the country's iron ore output.

From its present iron ore production capacity of 230 million tonnes, Rio Tinto has rolled out measures that would soon push up that output to 283 million tonnes.

"Everything is now in place for the expansion to 283 million tonnes and potentially to 353 million tonnes," Mr Albanese was quoted as saying by Business Day in referring to the company plan that he would submit before the Rio Tinto board.

The expansion path must be taken now, he added, as "we must ensure we are proactively tackling issues now that may impact productivity in years to come."

Mr Albanese reiterated his earlier suggestions of impending challenges that Rio Tinto and the resource industry as a whole would face, which he stressed can be dealt with by acting early before the specific problem arises such as the rising production cost in Australia.

"Increasing costs are an industry-wide problem, particularly in hotspots like here in Queensland, and I am determined to be on the front foot in tackling this challenge," the company chief said.

In a separate speech, Rio Tinto chair Jan Du Plessis informed the company's shareholders, gathered in Brisbane today for the firm's annual meet, that difficulties were indeed lurking ahead as global economies fight off lingering threats of recession, especially in Europe where last week voters ousted governments deemed gravitating towards austerity measures.

Amidst the uncertainties, however, Mr du Plessis has expressed confidence for the general outlook of Rio Tinto, especially in the production department, which he said would surge by a hundred percent over the next 20 years.

"Over the longer term, we continue to believe the outlook remains strong, with demand for many of the products we produce expected to double over the next 20 years," the Rio Tinto chair said, adding that the company's overall growth prospect has experienced considerable uplifts in the past six months.

"I believe our strong balance sheet will serve to strongly underpin our business in the face," Mr du Plessis was reported by the Australian Associated Press (AAP) as saying.

He acknowledged, however, that China has become a concern following the controlled cooling down measures on the world's second biggest economy that were unleashed by Beijing this year.

As one of Rio Tinto's biggest customer, any slowdown occurring in China will definitely leave an impact, the Rio Tinto chair admitted.

But Mr du Plessis is not worrying that much as he stressed that "the rate of growth (in China) is still very favourable in comparison to global economic growth."

He added that the general situation in the United States appears to be gradually stabilising, a condition that inevitably would spread over other economies around the world, which Mr du Plessis said were all favourable to Rio Tinto and other resources-centred companies.

Much of the concern for now is focus on Europe, where he noted "the European Central Bank has in recent months managed the sovereign debt crisis in Europe well."

Mr du Plessis, however, conceded that the recent defeat of French President Nicolas Sarkozy and other European leaders that championed fiscal discipline was somewhat a jarring development for the business community.

"Recent events have shown that the situation is clearly not resolved and the potential for contagion continues to linger," the Rio Tinto chair warned.