E & Y statement 2007

To the Managers and Directors of Rio Tinto

Scope

The 'Sustainable development' section of the 2007 Annual Report has been prepared by the management of Rio Tinto, who are responsible for the collection and presentation of sustainable development performance information within it.  Management is also responsible for maintaining adequate records and internal controls to support the sustainable development reporting process.  There are currently no prescribed requirements for the preparation, publication and verification of sustainability reports, such as this sustainable development section.

Our responsibility, in accordance with Rio Tinto management's instructions, was to carry out a limited assurance engagement ('our assurance engagement') in relation to a selection of disclosures presented in the sustainable development section.

Our responsibility in performing our assurance activities is to the Management and Directors of Rio Tinto only and in accordance with the terms of reference for this engagement as agreed with them.  As such, we do not accept or assume any responsibility for any other purpose or to any other person or organisation.  Any reliance any such third party may place on this Independent Assurance Statement is entirely at its own risk.

Our assurance engagement has been planned and performed in accordance with the International Federation of Accountants' International Standard for Assurance Engagements Other Than Audits or Reviews of Historical Financial Information ('ISAE3000') and with regard to the Global Reporting Initiative's Sustainability Reporting Guidelines Version 3.0 ('GRI G3'). We designed our procedures in order to evaluate the sustainable development section against the principles of Materiality and Completeness as set out in the GRI G3 specifically as follows:

• 'Materiality' - has Rio Tinto reported the material topics concerning its sustainable development performance, and has Rio Tinto presented material aspects of its performance concerning the selected material sustainable development areas? 
• 'Completeness' - has Rio Tinto fairly presented performance information concerning the selected material sustainable development areas with respect to the boundaries defined in the Annual Report?

Work Performed

We selected five material sustainable development areas on a risk basis (the 'selected material sustainable development areas') and six operations for our testing. The selected material sustainable development areas were safety; health; climate change; land use and biodiversity; and community and the six sites selected were Boyne Smelters (aluminium); Iron Ore Company of Canada; Energy Resources of Australia; Kennecott Utah Copper; Richards Bay Minerals; and Rio Tinto Exploration Australasia Region. These operations were selected to obtain a cross section of significant contributors to the selected material sustainable development areas, and to give coverage across Product Groups and the geographic regions in which Rio Tinto operates.

Our procedures included but were not limited to:

1. Interviewing Rio Tinto executives and senior managers to understand Rio Tinto's challenges, priorities and status of activities in relation to sustainable development for the reporting year, and the process by which Rio Tinto implements 'The Way We Work' Policies and receives assurances in relation to the implementation of these Policies.
2. Comparing the material topics identified by Rio Tinto's materiality assessment to topics reported by industry sector peers, external public information, and internal documents.
3. Visiting the selected operations to sample test their processes for the collection and accurate reporting of performance information to the Group level for the selected material sustainable development areas.
4. Sample testing the Group level processes for collection, consolidation and reporting of performance data, such as the Social & Environment Survey and Social and Environment Assurance Reporting Tool as well as management's responses to the Internal Control Questionnaire for the selected material sustainable development areas.
5. Reviewing the sustainable development section of the Annual Report against the outcomes of Rio Tinto's materiality assessment.
6. Reviewing a selection of performance data, statements and assertions related to the selected material sustainable development areas presented in the sustainable development section of the Annual Report against the outcome of our testing at the operations and Group level.

Level of Assurance

Our procedures were designed to obtain a limited level of assurance on which to base our conclusions.  The procedures conducted do not provide all the evidence that would be required in a reasonable assurance engagement and, accordingly, we do not express an audit opinion.

Limitations of our Work Performed

Our scope of work did not include:

• management's forward looking comments and any comparisons made against historical data; 
• Rio Tinto's online information and sustainable development reports produced by Rio Tinto's business units;
• any previous Rio Tinto Sustainable Development Reviews;
• assessing whether Rio Tinto's reporting meets the requirements of the A+ application level of the GRI G3; and
• the sustainable development performance of Alcan.

We did not test electronic systems used to collect and aggregate operations level data and we did not attend any stakeholder engagement activities.

Our Independence and Assurance Team

This Australian firm and all professional personnel involved in this engagement have met the independence requirements of Australian professional ethical requirements.  Ernst & Young has provided a range of services to Rio Tinto such as internal audit of systems and processes unrelated to sustainable development, tax advisory, human capital and other business advisory services.  We believe the provision of these services has not impaired our independence.

Our team has been drawn from our Sustainability Assurance and Advisory Services network, which undertakes similar engagements for a number of Australian and international businesses.  Our team has the required competencies and experience to perform this engagement.

Our Conclusions

Based on our work described in this statement, in relation to the 'Sustainable development' section of the 2007 Annual Report, we conclude that nothing has come to our attention that causes us to believe that:

Materiality:

• there are any material sustainable development topics that were identified by Rio Tinto's materiality assessment process for disclosure that have not been reported;
• there are any material aspects of performance in relation to the selected material sustainable development areas that have not been reported;

Completeness:

• there are any material reporting units from within Rio Tinto's defined boundaries have been excluded from the performance information presented in relation to the selected material sustainable development areas;
• the performance data reported for the selected material sustainable development areas have not been accurately collated at the Group level from operations level data; and
• there are any material errors or material misstatements regarding performance data, statements and assertions presented in relation to the selected material sustainable development areas.

Ernst & Young
Melbourne
5 March 2008
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation