Land
Our land holdings are held both for exploration - where the land is predominantly passively managed - and for operational purposes. Our operational land holdings fall into two categories:
- all land disturbed for mining, processing and related activities, including rehabilitated land. This is known as our operational footprint.
- land outside our operational footprint area, which may be used in the future for mining, processing and related activities as well as other land uses. This is known as our land holding balance.
Understanding our "land values" enables us to put actions in place to reduce impact and maximise opportunities to conserve these values in a local and, often, regional context.
We rehabilitate the land we disturb to a form and state agreed by stakeholders. We aim to conduct progressive rehabilitation and decommissioning, wherever possible, to reduce the impacts on the environment (eg erosion) and minimise the residual impact of the operation’s activities.
The length of time an operation has been in production and its method of mining will influence the size of an area available for rehabilitation. Areas disturbed for long term infrastructure are unlikely to be rehabilitated or decommissioned until closure.
The nature of the mining operation also affects our ability to undertake progressive rehabilitation. For instance, retaining access to the ore at vertical surface mines means that most of the land remains open until mine closure.
Proposed emissions trading legislation in Australia
- The current Australian Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) legislation disproportionately impacts the coal, aluminium and alumina industries and threatens the viability of low emissions technology development.
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Environmental publications
Water strategy sets the standards
- Ethical Corporation, an independent firm that encourages debate and discussion on responsible business practices, has recognised Rio Tinto’s water strategy as providing a model for other businesses.
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Video
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