Rio's lost sales to hit profit RIO Tinto's second-quarter iron ore shipments were hit harder than expected by a conveyor outage and Pilbara rains, the miner has revealed in a production report that has been received well but is expected to weigh on first-half earnings forecasts. As well as lower iron ore revenue, profit will be hit by a $US183 million ($200m) provision made after West Australian billionaires Gina Rinehart and Angela Bennett in May won a court royalty battle through their respective companies Hancock Prospecting and Wright Prospecting.