Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Our business
We operate in 35 countries where our 60,000+ employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Our purpose in action
Continuous improvement and innovation are part of our DNA
Innovation
The need for innovation is greater than ever
We supply the metals and minerals used to help the world grow and decarbonise
Iron Ore
The primary raw material used to make steel, which is strong, long-lasting and cost-efficient
Lithium
The lightest of all metals, it is a key element needed for low-carbon technologies
Copper
Tough but malleable, corrosion-resistant and recyclable, and an excellent conductor of heat and transmitter of electricity
Bringing to market materials critical to urbanisation and the transition to a low-carbon economy
Oyu Tolgoi
One of the most modern, safe and sustainable operations in the world
Simandou Project
The world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit
Western Australia
While iron ore is central to our operations in WA, we have a diverse presence across the state, from salt, lithium, our diamond legacy and our promising copper-gold project
Providing materials the world needs in a responsible way
Climate Change
We’re targeting net zero emissions by 2050
Nature solutions
Our nature-based solutions projects complement the work we're doing to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions
Enabling ESG transparency
Our START™ initiative tracks traceability and responsible production of Rio Tinto materials.
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
2025 annual results
Announced on Thursday 19 February 2026
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I begin this report by recognising, with great sadness, the death of a colleague at the SimFer site in Guinea on 14 February. This tragedy follows the death of Mohamed Camara in August at the same site, a loss that was felt deeply across the business. We hold both teammates’ families, friends and colleagues in our thoughts, along with all those affected. We have taken immediate action to understand the causes of both tragedies and we will continue to strengthen our practices to ensure our people’s safety.
In a further 12 months characterised by geopolitical volatility and rapid technological progress, one truth became increasingly clear: now, more than ever, the world needs mining. The materials we provide not only fuel modern life but also enable underlying infrastructure for the technology revolution and energy transition. And volatility and fragmentation has increased the imperative and awareness of the need for critical minerals.
In the second half of last year, the Board appointed Simon Trott to lead Rio Tinto as Chief Executive. He succeeds Jakob Stausholm, who was instrumental in rebuilding trust with our key stakeholders and prepared the ground for our future growth, both strategically and culturally. The Board is deeply grateful to Jakob for his leadership and service.
In this next phase for Rio Tinto, the Board and leadership team have focused on implementing a stronger, sharper and simpler way of working across the business.
Our strong operating performance over the year shows that we are building on a firm foundation. And over 2025, I saw first-hand the strong progress being made at many of our sites as we deliver on this work.
At Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, I witnessed how we are extending the frontiers of mining technology. Here, we are ramping up copper production from an orebody more than 1,300 metres underground and comparable in size to Manhattan.
That same operational excellence was evident at our lithium sites in Argentina. There, I saw our progress in supplying customers with high-quality, battery-grade lithium carbonate.
In Canada, I met the teams operating our technologically advanced aluminium smelters in Quebec. I also spent time with colleagues who are driving efficiency-boosting innovations in our iron ore business in Quebec and Labrador.
And across the year, I saw time and again, Rio Tinto’s ability to build strong and meaningful partnerships.
In November, I joined the celebrations to mark first ore at Simandou in Guinea. This massive achievement was made possible by a unique partnership, consisting of the Government of Guinea, Chinalco, Baowu and WCS. Beyond the mine, the project delivers a major new source of high-grade iron ore to the world, a more than 620-kilometre multi-use railway and world-class port facilities. Simandou also promises to bring vast potential economic benefits and could grow Guinea’s GDP by up to 55% by 2030.
In 2024, we laid out the pathway to a decade of growth, gained clarity on the portfolio, and ensured we are in excellent financial health even as we execute more projects worldwide than ever before."
I said in our 2024 Annual Report that we are living in uncertain times and this has proved to be something of an understatement.
I am confident in our ability to navigate geopolitical challenges. Our agile response to US trade tariff volatility exemplified this capability. Equally, our diversified portfolio of world class assets, balance sheet strength and focus on operational excellence and project building enable us to respond to shifting demand in a more regionalised, protectionist world.
Climate change is another factor shaping how we operate. The massive cyclones in the Pilbara at the start of the year reminded us that extreme weather conditions can materially affect our operations. Against this backdrop, we believe our commitment to our decarbonisation targets, which we reaffirmed in our 2025 Climate Action Plan, is both environmentally responsible and in our shareholders’ long-term interests.
Our operations’ benefits must be felt beyond the mine gate and within the communities who host us. Over 2025, we strengthened our social licence and relationships with Indigenous Peoples and communities.
In June, we opened the Western Range iron ore mine in Australia, which we developed with our joint venture partner China Baowu Group, in close collaboration with the Yinhawangka People. It showed what can be achieved through meaningful engagement with Traditional Owners in mine planning and development. We built on this milestone by updating 3 agreements with Pilbara Traditional Owners, reflecting modernised partnership expectations. While these agreements mark significant progress, we know there is still more to do.
Our achievements in 2025 would not have been possible without our people. Across Rio Tinto, we continue to build a positive, values-driven performance culture, creating the right conditions for success. Our aim is for our people to feel safe, respected and accountable for their work, and confident that their voices and ideas are heard.
In turn, our colleagues’ dedication is creating a Rio Tinto that is valued for how it performs, and the way it works with others. We look to the year ahead with optimism, as we build on our already strong momentum to deliver industry-leading shareholder returns and lasting value for our stakeholders.
My thanks, and that of the Board, go to our people, partners, customers, suppliers, investors, and governments, Indigenous Peoples and communities for their support throughout 2025.
The past months have also reminded us, in the most sobering way, why safety is, and must always be, the foundation of everything we do. We were devastated by the death of a colleague at the SimFer site on 14 February. This loss follows the tragic death of Mohamed Camara at the site in August. Nothing is more important than the safety of everyone who works with us. We are determined to learn from these incidents and to do everything to ensure everyone goes home safe, every shift.
My 26 years with this business has shown me that when Rio Tinto is at its best, it is extraordinary.
In my first months as Chief Executive, my focus, with Rio Tinto’s leadership team, has been on unlocking this potential. Our mission is to move Rio Tinto into a new era of delivery and growth, and become the most valued metals and mining business.
Our strategy begins with world-class assets in the right markets, which play to our competitive advantages of expertise, size and scale. It is enabled by our people, our strong social licence and partnerships with communities and stakeholders. It rests on the 3 priorities of a great metals and mining businesses: operational excellence, project execution and capital discipline.
Here are some of the actions we took under each of these priorities in 2025.
Our immediate priority under operational excellence was the need to simplify the business’ way of working. We instilled clearer accountabilities and reduced complexity, improving the pace and quality of decisions.
We moved from 4 product groups to 3, bringing Aluminium and Lithium together. We also introduced a new operating model that places decisions at the point of impact, supported by a smaller Executive Committee with depth and diversity of experience.
Already these efforts are delivering results. In December, we announced $650 million in annualised productivity benefits and savings, and we are targeting significantly more.
Crucially, our drive for operational excellence does not mean a trade-off between performance and safety, which go hand in hand. Over 2025, our Safe Production System, now deployed across all managed sites, continued to drive efficiencies and productivity, giving rise to some record production results.
In March, we completed the acquisition of Arcadium Lithium, establishing Rio Tinto as a leader in supplying energy transition materials, with one of the world’s largest lithium resource bases.
In May, we announced plans to begin early works and conduct final engineering studies to increase production capacity at the Amrun bauxite mine in Far North Queensland. The Kangwinan project will involve building a new mine and expanding the existing port to almost double bauxite production from our Weipa Southern operations.
In June, in the Pilbara, we delivered Western Range on time and on budget. We also secured investment in the next tranche of projects that will sustain our Western Australian iron ore operations for decades to come.
In Mongolia, Oyu Tolgoi delivered record copper production as the underground ramp-up advanced. And in November, we marked the start of operations from Simandou in Guinea, achieved less than 2 years after major construction began. Simandou sets a new benchmark for how we deliver large projects, demonstrating that partnership is increasingly a Rio Tinto superpower.
The world needs mining, and mining done the right way. Our social licence is fundamental to our future business. Our plans for delivery and growth depend on earning our partners’ trust.
Throughout 2025, we strengthened our relationships with investors, customers, governments, Indigenous Peoples and communities.
At Rio Tinto, we believe that when our values are embedded in the way we operate, our performance strengthens. The co-management agreement we signed in 2025 with the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) Aboriginal Corporation reflects this approach and supports a lasting and trusted partnership. The agreement gives the PKKP People confidence that their heritage will be protected and Rio Tinto certainty for our operations and development.
Equally, strong performance requires firm financial foundations. Capital discipline is critical to converting our work into long-term value. That starts with a resilient balance sheet, rigorous capital allocation, and a clear focus on delivering leading returns to shareholders. In December, we announced plans to release $5 to $10 billion of cash from our asset base, as we direct resources to our most compelling opportunities.
At our 2025 Capital Markets Day, I was asked what it means to be the most valued metals and mining business.
To me, this mission is defined by each group we serve: for investors, most valued means delivering strong returns. For our people, it means Rio Tinto is the place they most want to work. For our partners, for our customers, and for communities, most valued is about delivering on our promises and creating lasting positive impact.
We remain committed to our capital framework, including our shareholder returns policy of paying 40% to 60% of underlying earnings, noting we now have a 10-year record of paying at the top of this range.
Delivery in 2025 has been strong, as we grew our production by 8% and sales by 5% on a copper equivalent basis (based on long-term consensus pricing). This was driven by the ramp-up of the Oyu Tolgoi underground copper mine in Mongolia, record bauxite production and our recently acquired world-class lithium business.
We are reporting net cash generated from operating activities of $16.8 billion, underlying earnings of $10.9 billion and profit after tax attributable to owners of Rio Tinto of $10.0 billion.
We ended the year with net debt at a comfortable level of $14.4 billion, following the Arcadium acquisition. We continue not to have a net debt target, but have a principles-based approach to anchor the balance sheet around a single A credit rating.
The shape of our capital spend remains consistent: in 2025 our share of capital investment was $11.4 billion, driven by the rapid development of the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea. We invested around $4.5 billion for sustaining, $3.6 billion for replacement projects, $0.2 billion for decarbonisation and $3.2 billion for growth.
We have a pathway to our 2030 target of a 50% reduction in net Scope 1 and 2 emissions, however this requires the timely completion of commercial discussions at our Pacific Aluminium Operations and delivery of the underlying renewable projects, which, if delayed, may ultimately impact our ability to meet our targets this decade. Our pathway is estimated to underwrite up to $8.5 billion of new, private renewable energy investment on competitive commercial terms. This is in addition to the $1-$2 billion of our own capital, which we have revised down from $5-$6 billion, due to the rephasing of spend on new emission reduction technologies as they continue to be assessed for industrial scale viability.
We have a strong portfolio of development options, particularly copper and lithium, and will be highly disciplined in allocating capital to them. Leveraging our industry-leading project delivery capabilities and lowering capital intensity remains a priority.
Our financial strength means that we can reinvest for growth and continue to pay attractive dividends through the cycle. For 2025 we are returning 60% of underlying earnings to shareholders, which equates to a full-year ordinary dividend of 402 US cents per share, or $6.5 billion.
Our mission is to be the most valued metals and mining company. As an organisation, we have become leaner and are maintaining a strong focus on productivity and efficiencies, which is expected to lower unit costs, increase volumes and further enhance our margins. We continue to drive efficiencies through our operational excellence program, the Safe Production System, targeting improvements in labour productivity, contractor management, raw material sourcing and reducing central expenditure. We have become sharper with our investment in digital solutions.
We are strategically reviewing our Borates and Iron & Titanium businesses and simplified our early stage project portfolio where a compelling value pathway was not evident. This includes our decision to place the Jadar project in Serbia into care and maintenance.
Our operational performance is on an upward trend, and strong cash flows are being generated by our existing business, which will be further boosted by the successful delivery of our committed growth projects.