Rio Tinto Alcan's support for International Dragon Boat Festival tops $1.3 million

During its 12-year relationship with the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society, Rio Tinto Alcan has contributed more than $1.3 million to the festival that bears its name. Rio Tinto Alcan has been a major supporter for more than half the Festival's life, and is its longest-running title sponsor. The Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival, which takes to the waters of False Creek, British Columbia (B.C.) on June 21 and 22, is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2008.

"This partnership has been a very strong fit for our company," said Jean Simon, president, Rio Tinto Alcan Primary Metal, North America. "The Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival is a celebration of teamwork, dedication, continuous improvement and community diversity - values that are very important to us as a company. Both the sport and the Festival are inclusive of all ages, cultures, and walks of life. Events like this are about community-building, something we value."

"One of the side benefits of Rio Tinto Alcan's relationship with the Festival is that dragon boating has become a popular activity in northwestern B.C," said Paul Henning, vice president, B.C. Operations and Strategic Development, Western Canada, Rio Tinto Alcan. "For the past several years, teams from Kitimat and Prince Rupert have been participating in the Vancouver Festival and our host communities of Kitimat and Terrace both boast of their own annual dragon boat regattas," he added.

"We are very grateful to Rio Tinto Alcan for their unwavering support for the Festival over so many years," said Jas Kalsi, chair of the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival. "It is not only the value of the sponsorship they bring to us, it is their participation on site and their support throughout the year. Although the event takes place on two days in June, the spirit of dragon boating is in the community year-round through the Festival Society's community outreach programs," he concluded.

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.

For further information, please contact

Rio Tinto Alcan Media Relations, B.C.
Colleen Nyce
Tel.: +1-250-615-6574
colleen.nyce@riotinto.com

Rio Tinto Media Relations, Canada
Stefano Bertolli
Tel.: +1-514-848-8151
stefano.bertolli@riotinto.com

20-06-2008 Press Release Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival [PDF: 22 KB]