Starry outback night

About

Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs

52,055

Employees 

35

Countries

150

Years

2,000

Customers

2022 figures

Aluminium for lightweight cars. Copper to help things work more efficiently – from renewables to the power in your home. Iron ore for the steel in our electricity infrastructure. Lithium for electric vehicles and battery storage. And many of the materials we provide are used to make the things in everyday life too: like borates that help crops grow and titanium for paint.

We work in 35 countries – in mines, smelters and refineries, as well as in sales offices, data centres, research and development labs and with artificial intelligence. Our geologists explore the Earth’s wildest terrain. Our wildlife specialists work to protect and conserve grizzly bears in Canada and migratory shorebirds in Western Australia. Our marketing teams make sure our essential materials meet the specific needs of customers around the world. And we are home to one of the world’s largest robots and maybe one of the smallest – we call him Mark.

The transition to a low carbon world offers a unique opportunity for us to grow, and to play an important role in tackling this global challenge. We know we have a major carbon footprint, significant scope 1 and 2 emissions and material indirect scope 3 emissions. We must switch to renewables at scale, electrify everything we can electrify, work across our entire value chain and accelerate the development of new technology.

We were founded in 1873, on the banks of the Rio Tinto river in Andalusia, Spain. We are proud of everything we have achieved. At Rio Tinto, we know our future is even brighter than our past.

  • Driverless AutoHaul train, Pilbara
    Automation
    We harness new and emerging technologies to make our operations more efficient, safer and more environmentally friendly.
  • Drone on site
    Smart mining
    Data is one of our most valuable assets. By combining it with clever analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation, we are making our business safer and more productive.
  • Arm holding out blueberries
    Partnering to innovate
    We are always open to new ideas about the best way to share value from mining projects in a way that preserves and grows investor returns, creates lasting value for host governments and communities and provides the metals the world needs in an environmentally sustainable way.
  • Perth Operations Centre
    Artificial intelligence
    Today, thousands of miles from our mines, we use AI to help our controllers make better decisions