Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Purpose & Values
The drive for innovation and continuous improvement is at the heart of our purpose
Business Strategy
Climate change is at the heart of our business strategy
We are 150
150 years of finding better ways
Iron Ore
Iron ore is the primary raw material used to make steel
7 things the world will need for a low-carbon future
Wind, sun and water – what else do you need to make renewable energy work?
Sustainability – the expectation, not the exception
Shaping our aluminium product offering to meet demand for greener metals
We work across six continents in around 35 countries
Look inside a mine of the future
Our most intelligent mine yet is pioneering new mining technologies
Rincon Project
A long-life, low-cost and low-carbon lithium source
Simandou Project
The world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit
Providing materials the world needs in a responsible way
Sustainability Reporting 2022
We have a responsibility to extract the full value from the minerals and materials we produce in the safest and most sustainable way possible
Climate Change
We’re targeting net zero emissions by 2050
Water
Sharing our water usage
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
AGM
Rio Tinto PLC Annual General Meeting in London on 6 April 2023
Get the latest news, stories and updates
Breaking new ground for copper supply
Taking the world’s fourth-largest copper mine underground
The slow journey from red mud to green plants
Finding new ways to rehabilitate red mud
Road to a greener future
Rio Tinto Partners with BMW Group on Premium Aluminium Car Parts
Discover more about life at Rio Tinto
Graduates & Students
If you want to drive real change, we have just the place to do it
Empowering families with flexibility
Supporting new parents of any gender with equal access to parental leave
Available jobs
Join our team
Global taxes & royalties paid
Direct economic contribution
Paid to suppliers globally
2021 figures
2021 was another challenging year as the COVID-19 pandemic continued to bring human tragedy and cause economic disruption. It is a credit to our people and partners that we have managed to keep our operations running safely despite these challenges.”
We must ensure all our stakeholders benefit from the success of Rio Tinto. To do this, it is essential that we care for our employees, respect and safeguard the environment when we explore, build and operate, and repurpose or rehabilitate the land when our operations come to an end.
1. Includes contribution from net gains on disposal of interests in businesses.
2. Payables to governments includes charges for corporate income tax, government royalties, employer payroll taxes and other tax charges.
Australia
Australia is home to our largest operational footprint. From Bell Bay, Tasmania to Karratha, Western Australia and Weipa, Queensland, we have aluminium smelters, alumina refineries and iron ore, bauxite and salt operations across the country. Over the past ten years, we have paid $74 billion in taxes and royalties globally, of which 78%, or $58 billion (A$73 billion), was paid in Australia.
We are committed to decarbonise our business. For example, in the Pilbara we aim to deploy one gigawatt of renewable electricity to power our mining operations. This includes the construction of a 34MW solar plant at the Gudai-Darri mine which is expected to come online in 2022.
In Queensland, we have signed a statement of co-operation with the Queensland Government, agreeing to work together to help the Central Queensland region decarbonise while driving employment and economic outcomes for the State.
In 2021, we announced partnerships with the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to study whether hydrogen can replace natural gas in alumina refineries to reduce emissions and with Sumitomo Corporation to study the construction of a hydrogen pilot plant at one of our refineries as a step towards realising a carbon-free aluminium supply chain.
We know there is more we need to do to be better custodians, neighbours and partners in Australia and beyond. In 2021, we appointed Kellie Parker as our new Chief Executive, Australia, to help us rebuild trust and strengthen our relationships across Australia. In September 2021, we published an interim report on our communities and social performance commitments, as we continue to implement the recommendations arising from the Juukan Gorge tragedy. As part of the commitments, we have redesigned our planning and operational practices to protect heritage sites, while modernising and strengthening our agreements with Traditional Owners. To ensure Indigenous peoples have a stronger voice in the business, we are investing $50 million over five years to attract, retain and grow Indigenous professionals and leaders. So far, we have increased the number of Australian Indigenous leaders in our business fivefold since November 2020.
As one of Australia’s largest employers, we are committed to improving our workplaces and creating a safe and inclusive culture for all. In 2021, we commissioned expert and former Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick to conduct an independent review of our workplace culture to better understand, prevent and respond to harmful behaviours across our global operations.
We published the findings at the beginning of 2022, including 26 detailed recommendations to address the issues identified, all of which we will implement. This will, over time, contribute to a safer, more respectful and inclusive work environment.
Canada
Our Canadian high-quality alumina refinery and smelters in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec and Kitimat, British Columbia are powered entirely by clean, renewable hydropower. Our Diavik Diamond Mine in Canada produces stunning white gems, produced to the highest possible standards of safety and integrity. The site is home to an award-winning wind farm that has offset more than 28 million litres of diesel since its inception – prioritising environmental sustainability in the way that we mine. Our titanium operations have been processing ore from northern Quebec for more than 70 years.
Today, we are cracking the code on a secure supply of scandium, a rare earth element and important critical mineral from the waste streams of titanium dioxide production without the need for any additional mining. The Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) is a leading producer of high-grade low-impurity iron ore concentrate and pellets, enabling customers worldwide to operate more productively, reduce emissions and produce higher-quality steel for the modern world.
In 2021, we spent a total of C$5.15 billion in Canada, including C$1.39 billion with local suppliers. Of this, C$250 million was spent with 86 Indigenous suppliers.
Partnerships play an important role across our operations in Canada. Our ELYSIS partnership with Alcoa, supported by Apple and the Governments of Canada and Quebec, is scaling up a technology with the potential to transform the aluminium industry through a significant reduction in its carbon footprint. In 2021, ELYSIS achieved a key milestone by successfully producing carbon-free aluminium at the Industrial Research and Development Centre in Saguenay. Work is now focused on accelerating the scale-up of the zero carbon ELYSISTM technology towards the demonstration of even larger commercial-size cells in 2023. Construction of the first commercial-scale prototype cells using ELYSISTM inert anode technology has now begun at our Alma smelter in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Quebec, Canada.
We continue to invest in a low-carbon future, and in November 2021, we announced an $87 million investment to increase our low-carbon aluminium production in Canada with 16 new smelting cells at our AP60 smelter, in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean region. The project is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. In July 2021, we started operations at a new commercial scale demonstration plant to produce high-quality scandium oxide following a $6 million investment for the construction of a first module in the plant, with an initial capacity to produce three tonnes of scandium oxide per year, or approximately 20% of the current global market.
Mongolia
Since 2010, Oyu Tolgoi has spent a total of $13.4 billion in-country, including $3.3 billion of taxes, fees and other payments to Mongolian national and local governments. To date, it is the largest foreign investment made in Mongolia. 74% of the total spend has been with the purchase of goods and services from hundreds of Mongolian suppliers. Our South Gobi spend has grown from $0.5 million in 2010 to a cumulative of over $888 million in 2021. The value of the spend with national suppliers that are majority owned by Mongolian citizens now accounts for 71% of overall operational spend, which brings the accumulative total spend with national suppliers to $4.1 billion since 2010.
At Oyu Tolgoi, we are working on several initiatives to reduce energy consumption and introduce renewable solutions. Studies on the use of solar power to provide energy to camp areas and other buildings will be initiated in 2022. In addition, the opportunity for wind-based renewable energy is being explored via a wind feasibility assessment.
We aim to have a positive impact on the communities surrounding the mine, including partner communities. We support herders’ cooperatives and work with local subject matter experts to improve livestock health services, increase the productivity of livestock, encourage vegetable and dairy production, and foster new business development through capacity building, strengthening market linkages and nurturing entrepreneurial mindsets amongst local communities.
Our Oyu Tolgoi South Gobi Development Strategy will expand on this work over the next five years to boost local procurement and employment above their current levels of 24.5% and 24.8%, respectively. We are also focusing on building the capability of geotechnical and mining professionals in Mongolia, and in 2021 we committed $2.75 million to a partnership with the Mongolian University of Science and Technology.
Oyu Tolgoi LLC also makes an annual contribution of US$5 million to the Gobi Oyu Development Support Fund (DSF), an independent fund that supports sustainable community development. Since its creation in September 2015, the DSF has invested $33 million (including $5.7 million in 2021) in 250 sustainable development projects and programmes, which have resulted in the creation of more than 484 permanent jobs, and scholarships for 234 students, among many other achievements.
United States
In 2021, we paid $81 million in taxes and royalties in the US. The transition to a lower-carbon world offers us opportunities to grow our business and in 2021, we continued to innovate and invest for future growth in the US.
To meet the growing demand for boron and zinc in fertilisation programmes, U.S. Borax launched two new products – AnhyborTM and ZincuborTM – to help farmers and fertiliser manufacturers unlock crop potential.
At Kennecott, we received approval for a 30MW solar power plant to be constructed in two phases: 5MW to be completed by 2023, expanding to 30MW by 2025. We are also updating eight haul trucks with lower emission engines, as well as conducting a trial to understand the potential for using renewable diesel, for completion in 2022.
In Arizona, the proposed Resolution Copper project continues to progress through comprehensive and independent social and environmental regulatory reviews. Resolution has the potential to supply up to 25% of US copper demand, and create several thousand direct and indirect jobs, with an economic value of approximately $1 billion annually over the estimated mine life. We continue to build relationships with impacted communities and Native American tribes, while we take into consideration their concerns.
We have been advancing our consultation and partnerships with neighbouring communities and Native American tribes throughout 2021. Of particular note is our partnership with Western Apache tribes and the US Forest Service to implement the Emory Oak Collaborative Tribal Restoration Initiative, centred on advancing Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
South America
We own a 30% share in Escondida, in northern Chile, the world’s largest copper mine. It produces approximately 1.1 million tonnes of copper a year. Chile has set a power policy target (Energia 2025) for 20% of all Chilean energy to come from renewable sources by 2025. By tapping into Chile’s rich solar and wind resources, Escondida is on track to use 100% renewable electricity supply by the mid-2020s.
Alumar – the alumina refinery, in São Luís, Maranhão, north-east Brazil – started operations in 1984 and has been an important economic driver in the region ever since. The Alumar refinery is a joint venture, with 10% owned by Rio Tinto and the remaining 90% owned by Alcoa and South32, and is operated by Alcoa.
The Mineração Rio do Norte (MRN) mine complex in Porto Trombetas, northern Brazil opened in 1979. Today, it is Brazil’s largest bauxite mine, and in 2021 it produced approximately 12.6 million tonnes of bauxite. MRN is a joint venture, with 12% owned by Rio Tinto.
Africa
Our Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) operation is a world leader in heavy mineral sands extraction and refining and is South Africa’s largest mineral sands producer. We have 5,429 employees and contractors working at RBM and we have been operating here for more than 40 years. In 2021, RBM contributed R340 million through taxes and royalties, and R27.7 million in community investment.
QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM), in the Anosy region of Madagascar, produces ilmenite which is a major source of titanium dioxide, predominantly used as a white pigment in products such as paints and paper. QMM has invested $1 billion in Madagascar since 2005, with $350 million invested in building shared infrastructure through public-private partnerships. In 2021, 98% of the workforce was Malagasy. We invest $2.5 million each year in the environment and the community, including education, health and small business development.
Our Simandou iron ore joint-venture project in Guinea is the largest known undeveloped high-grade iron ore deposit in the world. With an increasing focus on emissions and decarbonisation across the global steel industry, demand for high-grade ores is expected to continue to grow. We remain committed to the development of Simandou, while delivering benefits to our partners, local communities and the people of Guinea.
We engage with stakeholders and local communities in Guinea to deliver a range of economic development and community health initiatives including COVID-19 and Ebola response programmes. We are also working with communities to help them prepare for future operations, identify and manage our impacts, and design and deliver regional and local economic development programmes. We are engaging with other mining projects in Guinea to discuss the potential for enhancing offset options, as well as supporting the Centre Forestier N’Zérékoré and Pic de Fon Classified Forest management committee.
Europe
We continue to invest in Europe, with a focus on commodities and partnerships that enable the energy transition. We are investing in battery manufacturer InoBat Auto to support the development of a battery ecosystem in Europe, one of the world’s largest and most rapidly growing electric vehicle (EV) markets. InoBat is a European-based battery technology and manufacturing company with a battery research and development centre and pilot battery line under development in Voderady, Slovakia. Our investment follows a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with InoBat in May 2021, to help fund and complete this facility. In our MoU, we have agreed to work together to progress the establishment of a “cradle-to-cradle” EV battery value chain in Europe – covering the full commodity lifecycle from mining through to recycling of lithium.
At the Jadar lithium-borates project in Serbia, we committed $2.4 billion of funding in July 2021, subject to receiving all relevant approvals, permits and licences. In January 2022, the Government of Serbia cancelled the Spatial Plan for the Jadar project. We are continuing to review the legal basis of the decision and the implications for our activities and people in Serbia.
In Iceland, we operate the ISAL aluminium smelter where we produce some of the highest-quality, lowest carbon footprint aluminium in the world, employing more than 500 workers on site. In 2021, we launched a partnership with Carbfix to capture carbon and permanently store it under land surrounding the ISAL smelter. The Coda Terminal is the world’s first carbon mineral storage hub. Liquified CO2 will be captured from European industrial plants’ emissions and transported to Iceland by specifically designed ships operating on sustainable fuel.
Our drive for innovation and continuous improvement is at the core of our purpose
The low-carbon transition is at the heart of our business strategy
How we process personal data provided or obtained through this website.
With the exception of the use of cookies, Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of our Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
With the exception of the use of cookies (explained below), Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
Part 1 of this Privacy Policy contains the Rio Tinto Data Privacy Standard, which provides an overview of Rio Tinto’s approach to personal data processing. There is additional information in the appendices to the Data Privacy Standard, including information about disclosures, trans-border data transfers, the exercise of data subject rights and how to make complaints or obtain further information relating to Rio Tinto’s processing of your personal data.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us at digital.comms@riotinto.com).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.
A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of this Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
These Cookies are used to provide a better user experience on the site, such as by measuring interactions with particular content or remembering your settings such as language or video playback preferences.
These Cookies allow us to analyse site usage in order to evaluate and improve its performance. They help us know how often you come to our site and when, how long you stay and any performance issues you experience whilst you are on our site.
These Cookies are used by advertising companies to inform and serve personalised ads to your devices based on your interests. These Cookies also facilitate sharing information with social networks or recording your interactions with particular ads.