Borates

Rio Tinto Minerals supplies nearly half the global demand for refined borates, the key ingredient in fiberglass, glass, ceramics, fertilizers, wood preservatives and hundred of other products.

Rio Tinto Minerals, through Rio Tinto Borax, operates California's largest open pit mine in Boron, California - one of the richest borate deposits on the planet. The company supplies nearly half the world's demand for refined borates, minerals essential to life and modern living.

Rio Tinto Borax traces its roots to California's Death Valley, where borate deposits were discovered in 1872. The twenty mule teams Borax used to haul ore out of the remote desert live on as a symbol of the company's commitment to innovation.

Today, Rio Tinto Minerals is acknowledged as the world leader in borate technology, research and development.

Rio Tinto Minerals operations are located in Boron, California and in Argentina's Salta province.

1. Borax Argentina, South America
2. Boron Mine, North America

For more information about Rio Tinto's operations, visit Our operations.