Overview
About Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto
The Rio Tinto Group combines Rio Tinto plc, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange and headquartered in London, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange and has executive offices in Melbourne.
Businesses include open pit and underground mines, mills, refineries and smelters as well as a number of research and service facilities. The Group consists of wholly and partly owned subsidiaries, jointly controlled assets, jointly controlled entities and associated companies, the principal entities being listed in notes 37 to 40 of the 2008 Full financial statements.
On 31 December 2008, Rio Tinto plc had a market capitalisation of £14.87 billion (US$21.72 billion) and Rio Tinto Limited had a market capitalisation of A$10.86 billion (US$7.66 billion). The Group's combined market capitalisation in publicly held shares at the end of 2008 was US$29.38 billion.
Operational structure
Rio Tinto's operational structure is designed to facilitate a clear focus on the Group's objective. This structure, reflected in this report, is based on the following primary product and business support groups:
- Aluminium
- Copper & Diamonds
- Energy & Minerals
- Iron Ore
- Technology & Innovation
- Exploration
The chief executive of each product group and the global head of each business support group report to the chief executive of Rio Tinto.
Nomenclature and financial data
Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited operate as one business organisation, referred to in this report as Rio Tinto, the Rio Tinto Group or, more simply, the Group. These collective expressions are used for convenience only, since both Companies, and the individual companies in which they directly or indirectly own investments, are separate and distinct legal entities.
"Limited", "plc", "Pty", "Inc", "Limitada", "L.L.C.", "A.S." or "SA" have generally been omitted from Group company names, except to distinguish between Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited. Financial data in United States dollars (US$) is derived from, and should be read in conjunction with, the 2008 Full financial statements. In general, financial data in pounds sterling (£) and Australian dollars (A$) have been translated from the consolidated financial statements and have been provided solely for convenience; exceptions arise where data can be extracted directly from source records. Certain key information has been provided in all three currencies in the 2008 Full financial statements.
Rio Tinto Group sales revenue, profit before finance items and tax, net earnings and operating assets for 2007 and 2008 attributable to the product groups and geographical areas are shown in notes 31 and 32 to the 2008 Full financial statements. In the Performance section, operating assets and sales revenue for 2007 and 2008 are consistent with the financial information by business unit in the 2008 Full financial statements.
The tables in Production & reserves show production for 2006, 2007 and 2008 and include estimates of proved and probable ore reserves and mineral resources. Words and phrases, often technical, have been used which have particular meanings; definitions of these terms are in the Glossary. The weights and measures used are mainly metric units; conversions into other units are shown on the same page.
History
Rio Tinto's predecessor companies were formed in 1873 and 1905. The Rio Tinto Company was formed by investors in 1873 to mine ancient copper workings at Rio Tinto, near Seville in southern Spain. The Consolidated Zinc Corporation was incorporated in 1905 to treat zinc bearing mine waste at Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
The RTZ Corporation (formerly The Rio Tinto-Zinc Corporation) was formed in 1962 by the merger of The Rio Tinto Company and The Consolidated Zinc Corporation.
CRA Limited (formerly Conzinc Riotinto of Australia Limited) was formed at the same time by a merger of the Australian interests of The Consolidated Zinc Corporation and The Rio Tinto Company.
Between 1962 and 1995, both RTZ and CRA discovered important mineral deposits, developed major mining projects and also grew through acquisition.
RTZ and CRA were unified in 1995 through a dual listed companies structure. This means the Group, with its common board of directors, is designed to place the shareholders of both Companies in substantially the same position as if they held shares in a single enterprise owning all of the assets of both Companies.
In 1997, the RTZ Corporation became Rio Tinto plc and CRA Limited became Rio Tinto Limited, together known as the Rio Tinto Group. Over the past decade, the Group has continued to invest in developments and acquisitions in keeping with its strategy.
In 2007, Rio Tinto completed an agreed takeover of the Canadian aluminium producer Alcan Inc. in a US$38 billion transaction that transformed the Group's aluminium product group into the global leader in aluminium. With copper and iron ore, this gave the Group a leading role in the production of the three key metals associated with the growth and urbanisation of China and other developing countries.
