2010 Annual report

Strategy

• Deliver shareholder value with a material increase in production in the medium term.
• Optimise our operating assets by delivering meaningful improvements in safety and productivity, championing various technologies and remaining a leader in sustainable development.
• Partner with local governments and communities to contribute to sustainable development.
• Develop strong leadership and diverse, high quality talent needed to deliver growth.

Key achievements

• Completed Northparkes E48 block cave project.
• Began process of updating environmental permits at Kennecott Utah Copper’s Bingham Canyon copper mine and extending its life to 2028 while maintaining additional long term options.
• Launched construction of US$340 million Molybdenum Autoclave Process at Kennecott Utah Copper.
• Progressed a number of underground projects at Grasberg, namely the Grasberg Block Cave and DMLZ (Deep Mill Level Zone) projects.
• Continued to develop Oyu Tolgoi, one of the most promising undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world.
• Became the development and operating manager of Oyu Tolgoi and established a clear pathway to 49 per cent ownership in Ivanhoe Mines Limited.
• Began construction of the Eagle nickel-copper project, which is expected to begin production in late 2013.
• Obtained tenure over Sulawesi nickel resources.
• Secured land contracts to advance drilling at the La Granja project.

Key priorities

• Continue to improve safety performance with an emphasis on process safety and underground safety.
• Leverage industry leading technology and innovation to drive value-generating growth in every operation and shorten development for greenfield projects.
• Proactively advance application of key technologies that will drive value in Rio Tinto’s copper assets.
• Manage and provide support to the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold project, with a focus on safety, resourcing and sustainable development.
• Keep the growth pipeline full of potential projects and opportunities.
• Ensure high quality resources are in place to deliver growth.

Outlook

• Solid fundamentals in the near to medium term.
• Growth in emerging economies, led by China and India, will drive increasing demand.
• Potential for supply side challenges linked to increased sovereign risk, higher operating costs, increasing depths, decreasing grades and project disruption.
• The Copper group’s asset base is resilient to volatile prices and has opportunities for development, while its growth pipeline is world class.