Across Rio Tinto businesses, we supported over 500 business development programmes in 2003, representing a total contribution of US$1.6 million. Initiatives of this type include small scale commercial enterprises and advice and training in small business management.

Converting the resources of a mining operation into self sufficient community based enterprises is one way in which Rio Tinto can make a lasting contribution to a local or regional economy. We try to understand expenditure on community based enterprise development programmes according to the primary source of their business. A high or complete reliance on business from our operations might suggest that the initiative would be unsustainable beyond mine life.

Note: The sum may not equal 100% due to rounding values