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Home Overview Product overview

Overview

Product overview


No one can spend a day without using a metal or mineral. If it can't be grown it has to be mined. In the production and supply of metals and minerals, Rio Tinto is one of the world's most diversified companies. Our major products are aluminium, iron ore, copper, molybdenum, coal, uranium, diamonds, gold, borates, titanium dioxide, salt and talc.

Products integral
to our way of life

View the text version of Gross revenue by commodity 2008


Uranium

Uranium is one of the most powerful natural energy sources known, used in the production of clean, stable, base load electricity. After uranium ore is mined, it is milled into uranium oxide, the mine product that is sent away for further processing into fuel rods for nuclear power stations.

Silver

Silver is a good conductor of electricity and does not corrode. It is used in many electrical and electronic applications and is the principal ingredient of photographic and x-ray film. Silver is also a metal of beauty, used to make lasting products for the home and person. Rio Tinto produces silver as a by-product of its copper production.

Bauxite, alumina, aluminium

The mineral bauxite is refined into alumina which is smelted into aluminium metal. Aluminium is one of the most widely used metals from tennis racquets to aircraft. Rio Tinto is a leading global supplier of bauxite, alumina and primary aluminium, with an annual production capacity of 35 million tonnes of bauxite, nine million tonnes of alumina and 4.1 million tonnes of aluminium.
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Molybdenum

Molybdenum is a metallic element frequently used in alloys with stainless steel and other metals. It enhances the metal's toughness, high temperature strength and corrosion resistance. We produce molybdenum as a by-product from the Kennecott Utah Copper operations.

Gold

Gold has enjoyed a mystique and value unrivalled by other metals. Most gold that is not stored as bullion for investment purposes goes into jewellery. Gold's conductivity and non corrosive properties make it a vital fabrication material in technology, electronics, space exploration and dentistry. We produce gold as a by-product from our copper mines.

Coal

Coal is plentiful, relatively inexpensive, and safe and easy to transport. We are one of the world's largest producers of thermal coal, used for electricity generation in power stations. We also produce higher value coking, or metallurgical, coal which, when treated into coke, is used in furnaces with iron ore to produce steel.



Iron ore

Iron is the key ingredient in the production of steel, one of the most fundamental and durable products for modern day living, from railways to paperclips. Our mines are located in Australia and Canada.

Copper

About two thirds of copper production is used in electrical applications due to its high conductivity. It helps power our lives, in homes and factories, cars, computers, phones and equipment. Further major uses are in air conditioning and refrigeration, plumbing and roofing. Rio Tinto produces about five per cent of world mined copper.

Salt

Dampier Salt is the world's largest salt exporter. Salt is one of the basic raw materials for the chemicals industry and is indispensable to a wide array of automotive, construction and electronic products, as well as for water treatment, food and healthcare.

Talc

Talc is hydrated magnesium silicate and is the softest rock in the world. It is an important ingredient in the manufacture of paper, paints, moulded plastics for cars and other familiar products. Our talc subsidiary Rio Tinto Minerals serves more than 1,000 customers in more than 100 countries.

Gypsum

Gypsum is a key ingredient in wallboard, plaster, cement and is used in agriculture markets. Rio Tinto's Dampier Salt operations at Lake MacLeod, Australia, provide high quality natural gypsum to the markets in Africa, Asia and Australia.
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Borates

Mineral borates are used in hundreds of products and processes. They are a vital ingredient of many home, garden and beauty care products, and have many automotive applications. They are commonly used in vitreous applications such as fibreglass products and high temperature glasses and enamels. About half of the world's borates come from Rio Tinto's Boron mine in California.

Diamonds

Gem diamonds share the role with gold as a luxury commodity in jewellery. Rio Tinto offers diamond products across a wide range, from the pink, champagne and cognac stones from Argyle in Australia, to the spectacular whites of Diavik in Canada and Murowa in Zimbabwe.

Titanium dioxide

The minerals ilmenite and rutile, together with titanium slag, can be transformed into a white titanium dioxide pigment or titanium metal. The white pigment is a key component in paints, plastics, paper, inks, textiles, food, sunscreen and cosmetics. Titanium metal's key properties of light weight, chemical inertness and high strength make it ideal for use in medical applications and in the aerospace industry.

Sulphuric acid

Sulphuric acid is one of the most important industrial chemicals with a wide range of uses. It is produced as a by-product of Rio Tinto's copper smelting operations at Kennecott Utah Copper.


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