TORONTO, Aug 22 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto and Teck

Resources said on Thursday the labor dispute between

Canada's two biggest railway companies and their workers would

likely disrupt their operations and the miners were taking steps

to mitigate the damage.

A Rio Tinto spokesperson said the company's contingency

plans to minimize the impact included trucking certain materials

and products and increasing use of its own rail network.

Teck said it was looking to use alternative transportation,

without specifying. A spokesperson added that the interruption

of rail service is negative for its partners and customers in

the critical minerals supply chain.

Canada's top two railroads, Canadian National Railway ( CNI )

and Canadian Pacific Kansas City ( CP ) locked out

more than 9,000 unionized workers on Thursday, triggering an

unprecedented rail stoppage that threatens to cause billions of

dollars worth of economic damage and disrupt North American

supply chains.

Rio Tinto's Canadian operations include production of iron

ore, aluminum and diamonds. Canadian operations contributed $800

million to the company's total revenue of $26.8 billion in the

first half of 2024.

The lockout will be mostly felt in the iron ore and aluminum

businesses, Rio Tinto said. It owns around 100 kilometres (62

miles) of railway for its aluminum operations and 400 kilometres

of rail network for iron ore.

Teck's Canadian operations include copper and molybdenum

production at its Highland Valley, British Columbia mine, as

well as zinc and lead smelting and refining at Trail, British

Columbia.