Copper

Financial performance

	2011 US$ million	2010 US$ million
Revenue	7,634	7,797
Operating cash flow	3,134	4,125
Underlying earnings	1,932	2,530
Capital expenditure	3,784	990
Net operating assets	12,094	7,718

Strategy

The Copper group’s strategy is to deliver shareholder value by:

• Optimising operating assets with meaningful improvements in safety and productivity, and through investment in innovative technologies.
• Progressing the group’s high-quality growth projects.
• Collaborating with local governments and communities to contribute to sustainable development.
• Developing the leadership and talent needed to deliver growth.

Safety

In 2011, the Copper group’s all injury frequency rate was 0.56, versus 0.57 in 2010. The group recorded 81 lost-time injuries including, regrettably, two fatalities at its Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia.

The Copper group is committed to providing a workplace where zero harm is possible. To that end, the group is developing enhanced programmes and procedures to manage process safety, underground safety and contractor management activities. In addition, the group is embedding the need for all leaders and employees to focus on personal safety and work collaboratively toward a goal of zero harm.

Greenhouse gas emissions

The Copper group’s 2011 greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions were 8.14 tonnes of CO₂-e per tonne of copper cathode produced, compared with 8.75 in 2010, as Kennecott Utah Copper, which accounts for 54 per cent of the Copper group’s total GHG emissions, reduced generation at its main power plant in response to lower electricity prices.

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Kennecott is testing alternative fuel vehicles, best-in-class lighting technologies, equipment optimisation projects, and adoption of other developing technologies.

Review of operations for the year

The Copper group portfolio is made up of large, long-life operations, including:

Kennecott Utah Copper (Rio Tinto: 100 per cent)

Kennecott Utah Copper, adjacent to Salt Lake City, produces about 25 per cent of US copper and molybdenum supply and provides more than 17 per cent of US refined copper requirements. In 2011, Kennecott produced 215 thousand tonnes of refined copper, 379 thousand ounces of refined gold, and 30 million pounds of molybdenum.

Escondida (Rio Tinto: 30 per cent)

Operated by BHP Billiton, Escondida is the world’s largest copper-producing mine. Located in Chile’s Atacama Desert, it represents eight per cent of global production and 33 per cent of all copper production from Chile. In 2011, Escondida produced 759 thousand tonnes of mined copper (100 per cent basis).

Grasberg (a joint venture gives Rio Tinto a 40 per cent share of production above specified levels until 2021 and 40 per cent of all production after 2021)

Grasberg is owned and operated by PT Freeport Indonesia, a subsidiary of US-based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. Located in the province of Papua in Indonesia, it is one of the world’s largest copper mines. In 2011, Rio Tinto’s share of production from Grasberg was 17 thousand tonnes of mined copper and 178 thousand ounces of mined gold.

Northparkes (Rio Tinto: 80 per cent)

Based in New South Wales, Australia, Northparkes is a joint venture with the Sumitomo Group. Northparkes produced 50 thousand tonnes of mined copper and 76 thousand ounces of mined gold in 2011 (100 per cent basis).

Palabora (Rio Tinto: 57.7 per cent)

Palabora Mining Company is a South African company (listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange) based in Limpopo Province. Palabora produced 59 thousand tonnes of refined copper in 2011 (100 per cent basis). In September 2011, Rio Tinto announced plans to divest its interest in Palabora and a commercial process to do so is under way.

Growth and innovation

During the next three years, the Copper group will invest more than US$4.5 billion of capital in its existing operations.

In the first half of 2011, the group began a US$238 million feasibility study to extend the mine life at Kennecott Utah Copper’s Bingham Canyon mine. With this expansion, Bingham Canyon will mine an additional 974 million tonnes of ore and recover 3.7 million tonnes of copper, 4.1 million ounces of gold and 584 million pounds of molybdenum. Total capital expenditure for the mine expansion project is expected to be between US$2 billion and US$3 billion.

Rio Tinto has also approved a US$165 million investment to conduct pre-feasibility studies for the North Rim Skarn, a proposed underground operation that would operate in parallel with the Bingham Canyon open pit and produce an estimated 50 thousand tonnes of copper per year, with gold and silver by-products, at grades significantly higher than the current open pit reserves.

In 2012, the Copper group will complete construction of a Molybdenum Autoclave Process at Kennecott Utah Copper, which will improve recovery rates by seven per cent. Phase one will begin commissioning towards the end of 2012, with an initial capacity of 30 million pounds, increasing to 60 million pounds in early 2015.

Escondida is constructing a new 152 thousand tonnes per day concentrator that is expected to increase production by 2015. Construction of a new dynamic oxide leaching pad will maintain current processing capacity following the completion of the existing heap leach in 2014. The current sulphide leach pad is also being expanded. Moving crushing and conveying systems in the pit will provide access to high-grade ore and a fourth ball mill will be added to the Laguna Seca concentrator.

In Indonesia, Grasberg continues its transition to underground block cave mining. Grasberg’s US$3.7 billion underground project will ultimately produce 160 thousand tonnes of ore per day and is expected to come on line in 2016, when the current open pit mine will be depleted. In addition, construction has begun on the Deep Mill Level Zone block cave mine, which is expected to begin production in 2015. This US$2 billion project will produce an additional 80 thousand tonnes of ore per day at full capacity.

At the Northparkes mine, the group continues to evaluate a step change expansion that will increase metal production threefold, add more than 20 years to the life of the mine. The pre-feasibility phase of the project is expected to be complete in late 2012, with construction beginning in 2013.

Oyu Tolgoi (2012 – Rio Tinto: 51 per cent interest in Ivanhoe Mines Limited)

The Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia has the potential to be a top ten copper producer and one of the world’s largest producers of gold. During 2011, Rio Tinto increased its holding in Ivanhoe Mines Limited (which holds a 66 per cent interest in Oyu Tolgoi) from 40.3 per cent to 49 per cent and fully participated in Ivanhoe’s rights offering. Consideration for these transactions totalled US$1.9 billion. Following expiry of the standstill agreement on 24 January 2012, Rio Tinto moved to a majority stake in Ivanhoe, having purchased shares that take it to 51 per cent interest.

Rio Tinto is the manager of the Oyu Tolgoi project, which is on track for first commercial production in 2013. Phase one includes the development of an open pit mine and a 100 thousand tonne per day concentrator. Total capital expenditure for the first phase is approximately US$6 billion.

Rio Tinto expects phase two of Oyu Tolgoi, which includes developing an underground mine and expanding the mill to 160 thousand tonnes per day, to begin production in 2015. Oyu Tolgoi’s underground reserve grades are nearly four times those of the open pit.

La Granja (Rio Tinto: 100 per cent)

La Granja, in Peru, is wholly owned by Rio Tinto, and is currently the world’s seventh-largest undeveloped copper resource with an inferred mineral resource of 3.6 billion tonnes at 0.51 per cent copper. In the fourth quarter of 2011, Rio Tinto approved funding to begin pre-feasibility work on the project, which would be developed over a nine-year timeframe using a staged development approach. La Granja’s initial leaching operation envisions production of up to 100 thousand tonnes of copper per year, with the potential to expand to 250 thousand tonnes. The subsequent addition of a concentrator could add another 250 thousand tonnes of copper production, bringing total copper production to 500 thousand tonnes per year.

Resolution Copper (Rio Tinto: 55 per cent)

The Resolution Copper project, located in the US state of Arizona, is the third-largest undeveloped copper resource in the world. Rio Tinto expects to complete pre-feasibility studies in 2012, with the aim of production starting in the next ten years. With grades at around 1.5 per cent, Resolution currently plans to produce in excess of 600 thousand tonnes of copper per year at peak production, with significant amounts of molybdenum as a by-product.

To realise the full potential of the project, Resolution Copper needs access to public land where mining is currently prohibited. In exchange, the project would give the public more than 2,400 hectares of high-quality conservation lands. A bill outlining the parameters of this exchange has been pending before the US Congress since 2005. In October 2011 the US House of Representatives voted to approve the bill, which now awaits consideration by the Senate.

Technology and innovation

The Copper group continues to invest in advanced mining technologies designed to give access to more copper, sooner and with greater efficiencies.

In 2012, the Copper group will commission a tunnel boring system at Northparkes, that it is developing with Aker Wirth. The group is also evaluating full-scale prototype trials of additional tunnel boring machines and a shaft boring system. When used in combination, these two boring systems have the potential to decrease the time it takes to construct an underground mine by 40 per cent, compared to conventional methods.

At Kennecott Utah Copper, the Copper group has begun construction of a pilot plant facility to test its CopperNuWave™ recovery technology, that upgrades marginal ore or waste material, reduces energy consumption and more efficiently uses concentrator capacity. The group expects to commission the facility in the second quarter of 2012.

Outlook

In the short term, Rio Tinto sees ongoing volatility in the market.

Supply continues to be challenged – a result of decreasing grades and disruptions at existing mines, while new discoveries are increasingly located at depth and in developing regions with higher sovereign risks, and the need for increased levels of stakeholder engagement. This will favour organisations with strong social, environmental, operating, and technical mining skills, such as Rio Tinto’s Copper group.

The long-term demand picture has not changed and growth will remain robust and continue to be driven by urbanisation, electrification and industrialisation in China and other emerging markets. In addition, increased focus on renewable sources of energy and energy efficiency will be beneficial for copper in the long term.

In 2011, Rio Tinto experienced a dip in copper ore grades, although gold and molybdenum grades have remained strong. The Group expects to see improving grades in the second half of 2012 and into 2013. Production from the existing mines will be supplemented with Oyu Tolgoi’s first commercial production in 2013, and the Copper group’s growth pipeline contains a number of promising projects.

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