15 July 2009

Second quarter 2009 operations review

The full release is in PDF format below

Chief executive Tom Albanese said: "Markets remained tough in the second quarter, as expected, particularly in aluminium. The production curtailments announced in January in this product group have started to take effect and are reflected in this report. We continue to press ahead with actions to reduce costs across the board, align production with demand, and bring down levels of net debt. We have successfully completed our US$15.2 billion rights issue this month and during the course of this year we have agreed divestments to the value of US$3.7 billion."

Rio Tinto's global iron ore production was up eight per cent compared with the second quarter of 2008.
Pilbara iron ore production of 53 million tonnes (42 million tonnes on an attributable basis) up 11 per cent on the second quarter of 2008 reflected operations running at full capacity.
Following production cutbacks in response to the sharp fall in demand, bauxite production down 14 per cent, alumina down six per cent and aluminium down five per cent, compared with the second quarter of 2008. Second quarter trading in the aluminium business continued to experience difficult conditions and showed a slight improvement on the first quarter of 2009.
Mined copper production down one per cent on the second quarter of 2008. Recovery in copper grades at Kennecott Utah Copper and Grasberg, offset by lower copper grades and continued operational issues at Escondida.
Refined copper production up 23 per cent on the second quarter of 2008 from improved performance and higher concentrate grades at Kennecott Utah Copper and higher cathode production at Escondida.
Australian hard coking coal down seven per cent on the second quarter of 2008. Australian thermal coal production was up three per cent on the same period.
On 5 June 2009, Rio Tinto announced that it had entered a non-binding agreement with BHP Billiton to establish a production joint venture of both companies' Western Australian iron ore assets.
During 2009 Rio Tinto has announced divestments totalling $3.7 billion, including $1.2 billion for the Alcan Packaging Food Americas division announced on 6 July.
Rio Tinto successfully completed its $15.2 billion rights issue on 3 July with valid acceptances of 96.97% for Rio Tinto plc and 94.76% for Rio Tinto Limited. The proceeds will be used to pay down Group debt.

All currency figures in this report are US dollars, and comments refer to Rio Tinto's share, unless otherwise stated

About Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.

Contacts:

Media Relations London
Christina Mills
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1154
Mobile: +44 (0) 7825 275 605

Nick Cobban
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1138
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 041 003

Media Relations, US
Tony Shaffer
Office: +1 202 393 0266
Mobile: +1 202 256 3667

Media Relations, Canada
Stefano Bertolli
Office +1 (0) 514 848 8151
Mobile +1 (0) 514 945 1800

Media Relations, Australia
Ian Head
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3620
Mobile: +61 (0) 408 360 101

Amanda Buckley
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3627
Mobile: +61 (0) 419 801 349

Investor Relations, London
Nigel Jones
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 2049
Mobile: +44 (0) 7917 227 365

David Ovington
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 2051
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 010 978

Investor Relations, North America
Jason Combes
Office: +1 (0) 801 204 2919
Mobile: +1 (0) 801 558 2645

Investor Relations, Australia
Dave Skinner
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3628
Mobile: +61 (0) 408 335 309

Simon Ellinor
Office +61 (0) 7 3361 4365
Mobile +61 (0) 439 102 811

PR752g_Second quarter 2009 operations review [PDF: 770 KB]

PR752g_Second quarter 2009 operations review (Japanese version) [PDF: 243 KB]