Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
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We operate in 35 countries where our 60,000 employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs
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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
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
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
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Refuelling the mining industry
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How we're working to decarbonise iron ore and steel
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We’ve invested in the Burra project in New South Wales, Australia, one of the world's highest-grade primary scandium oxide resources. It can potentially be the first primary scandium production site outside of Asia. This scalable resource is our second scandium project – in 2022, we produced the first batch of high-purity scandium oxide at our commercial-scale demonstration plant at Sorel-Tracy in Canada, making us the first North American producer of this critical mineral.
We’ve received all state and federal government approvals for the $US1.6 billion Hope Downs 2 mine project. The joint venture between Rio Tinto (50%) and Hancock Prospering (50%) is expected to create more than 950 jobs during construction and up to 1,000 jobs once operational.
The 2 new above-water-table iron ore pits will have a combined total annual production capacity of 31 million tonnes. The project will also include new dry processing facilities, Non-Process Infrastructure precincts, access roads, railway crossings, and conveyors. Ore mined at the 2 sites will be transported to Hope Downs 1 for processing. First ore is expected in 2027.
Plans for both mines have been amended to ensure culturally significant areas are avoided, and priority flora and fauna, including the habitat of the ghost bat, will be protected with mining exclusion zones.
The Jadar project in Serbia is potentially one of the world’s largest greenfield lithium projects. The scale and high-grade nature of the Jadar deposit provides the potential for a mine to supply lithium into the electric vehicle value chain for decades.
The Board committed funding in July 2021, subject to receiving all relevant approvals, permits and licences. We are focused on consultation with all stakeholders to explore all options following the Government of Serbia's cancellation of the Spatial Plan in January 2022.
In June 2023 we approved $498 million of funding to deliver underground development and infrastructure for an area known as the North Rim Skarn (NRS). Production from the NRS will commence in 2025 and is expected to ramp up over 2 years, to deliver around 250,000 tonnes of additional mined copper over the next 10 years alongside open cut operations1.
In September 2022, we approved development capital totalling $55 million to start underground mining in an area known as the Lower Commercial Skarn (LCS). Underground production within LCS started in February 2023, and is expected to deliver a total of around 30 thousand tonnes of additional mined copper through the period to 20271. These 2 investments will support Kennecott in building a world class underground mine.
The Mutamba Project is in Inhambane province of Mozambique, in a world-class heavy mineral sands region. The project is approximately 450 kilometres northeast of the capital city of Maputo. The project aims to explore heavy minerals such as ilmenite, rutile and zircon in Mozambique's Inhambane Province.
The Oyu Tolgoi (OT) copper mine in Mongolia is a world-class open pit mine and underground project. The most valuable part of the copper resource lies deep underground. We have built an underground mine complex, that will use block-caving mining techniques to extract the ore and transport it to the surface.
March 2023 marked the start of sustainable production from the OT underground mine in Mongolia, which will make OT one of the most important producers of copper in the world. At full production, OT’s underground and open cut mines will produce enough copper annually for more than 6 million electric vehicles.
At peak production, Oyu Tolgoi is expected to operate in the first quartile of the copper cash cost curve2. Oyu Tolgoi is expected to produce around 500,000 tonnes3 of copper per year on average from 2028 to 2036 from the open pit and underground, compared to 130,000 tonnes in 2022 (open pit)4.
By 2030, Oyu Tolgoi is expected to be the fourth largest copper mine in the world. It is a complex greenfield project comprising an underground block cave mine and copper concentrator as well as an open pit mine which has been successfully operating for almost 10 years. It is one of the most modern, safe, sustainable and water-efficient operations globally, with a workforce which is more than 97% Mongolian.
The Resolution Copper project is a proposed underground copper mine in the Copper Triangle, approximately 60 miles east of Phoenix, Arizona, in the western United States.
Resolution Copper has the potential to be one of the biggest copper mines in America and create several thousand direct and indirect jobs.
Resolution Copper will rely on a technique called caving to extract the deposit that lies more than 2,000 metres deep. This technique uses gravity to help extract the ore and is the most viable way to recover the resource.
The US Forest Service (USFS) continued work to progress the Final Environmental Impact Statement and complete actions necessary for the land exchange. We continued to advance partnership discussions with several federally recognised Native American Tribes who are part of the formal consultation process.
In September 2024, the Apache Stronghold filed a petition to the U.S. Supreme Court requesting to hear its case to stop the land exchange between Resolution Copper and the federal government. The Court has not yet issued its decision on this petition. While there is significant local support for the project, we respect the views of the groups who oppose it and will continue our efforts to address and mitigate these concerns.
In October 2022, Rio Tinto (50%) and Wright Prospecting Pty Ltd (50%) agreed to modernise the joint venture covering the Rhodes Ridge project in the Eastern Pilbara, providing a pathway for development using Rio Tinto’s rail, port and power infrastructure. A resource-drilling program is currently underway to support future project studies.
In December 2023, we announced approval of a $77 million pre-feasibility study (PFS) to progress development of Rhodes Ridge. The PFS is expected to be completed by the end of 2025. This follows the completion of an Order of Magnitude study, conducted by Rio Tinto, which considered the development of an operation with initial plant capacity of up to 40 million tonnes annually, subject to relevant approvals.
Rhodes Ridge is one of the world’s best undeveloped iron ore deposits, and in the long term it could support a world-class mining hub with a potential capacity of more than 100 million tonnes of high-quality iron ore a year.
Rincon is a large, low-cost lithium-brine project located in the heart of the ‘lithium triangle’ in the Salta Province of Argentina.
A long-life, scalable resource capable of producing battery-grade lithium carbonate from raw brine, the project will help us deliver this vital resource to the global energy industry while meeting our commitment to decarbonise our operations by 2050.
Rincon's capacity of 60,000 tonnes of battery grade lithium carbonate per year is comprised of the 3,000-tonne starter plant and 57,000-tonne expansion plant.
The project consists of brine extraction using a production wellfield, processing and waste facilities, as well as associated infrastructure. Construction of the expanded plant is scheduled to begin in mid-2025, subject to permitting. First production is expected in 2028 followed by a 3-year ramp up to full capacity.
We are jointly developing and operating a high-grade lithium project in the Salar De Maricunga in northern Chile with Corporación Nacional Del Cobre de Chile (Codelco).
Salar De Maricunga is a large lithium-containing resource base in the Atacama region with the potential for scalable, long-life, and low-cost production. Its brine has one of the highest average grades of lithium content in the world.
Work is underway to update the declared reserves and resources for the project and advance studies to inform future investment decisions.
The joint venture is focused on deep engagement with local communities, supporting the development of infrastructure such as power and roads, and applying leading extraction, processing and re-injection technologies to the project to maximise the recovery of minerals and minimise its environmental footprint.
Simandou contains one of the world’s largest and richest high-grade iron ore deposits, demand for which is increasing as steelmakers look to reduce carbon emissions.
Simandou is set to diversify our strong iron ore portfolio, complementing our high-grade Iron Ore Company of Canada products and supporting the long-term attractiveness of our Pilbara Blend™ offering. Our managed joint venture, Rio Tinto Simfer, holds the rights to the 2 southern blocks of the Simandou deposit (blocks 3 and 4).
The Simfer joint venture will develop, own and operate a 60 million tonne per year mine in blocks 3 and 4. First production at the mine is expected in 2025, ramping up over 30 months to an annualised capacity of 60 million tonnes per year (27 million tonnes Rio Tinto share)5.
Winning Consortium Simandou (WCS) will construct the project's approximately 500 kilometre dual track main line as well as the WCS barge port, while Simfer will construct the approximate 70 kilometre spur line, connecting its mining concession to the main rail line. Pending completion and commissioning of its 60 million tonne per year transhipment vessel port, Simfer will be able to export its ore using WCS's barge port.
Western Range, a joint venture with China Baowu Steel Group (Rio Tinto 54%, Baowu 46%), is now operational. The mine has a capacity of up to 25 million tonnes per year and includes a primary crusher and an 18-kilometre conveyor connection to the Paraburdoo processing plant.
In late 2017, we discovered copper-gold mineralisation at the Winu project in the Paterson Province in Western Australia.
We reported our first Indicated Mineral Resource in 2021, and an increased Mineral Resource in 2022. In 2023, Project Planning Agreements were executed with the Nyangumarta and Martu groups, the Traditional Owners of the land on which the proposed Winu mine and airstrip will be located. Study activities, drilling and fieldwork progressed sufficiently to commence Winu’s formal Western Australian Environmental Protection Authority approval process. The environmental approval deliverables and Project Agreement negotiations with both Traditional Owner groups remain the priority.
The Zulti South project remains on full suspension. We approved the $463 million investment (our share is $343 million) in April 2019 to sustain RBM’s current capacity and extend the life of the mine.
RBM currently operates 4 mines in the Zulti North lease area, a mineral separation plant and smelting facility. The Zulti South mine is expected to underpin RBM’s supply of zircon and ilmenite.
1 The North Rim Skarns (NRS) Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, together with the Lower Commercial Skarn (LCS) Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves, form the Underground Skarns Mineral Resources and Ore Reserves. The 250kt mined copper production target for the Kennecott NRS over the years 2023 to 2033 and the 30kt mined copper production target for the LCS through to 2027 were previously reported in a release to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) dated 20 June 2023 "Rio Tinto invests to strengthen copper supply in US”. All material assumptions underpinning these production targets continue to apply and have not materially changed.
2 Wood Mackenzie copper equivalent cash cost curve (Q1 2023).
3 The 500ktpa copper production target (stated as recoverable metal) for the Oyu Tolgoi underground and open pit mines for the years 2028 to 2036 were previously reported in a release to the ASX dated 11 July 2023 “Investor site visit to Oyu Tolgoi copper mine, Mongolia”. All material assumptions underpinning that production target continue to apply and have not materially changed.
4 Rio Tinto Annual Results, published 22 February 2022.
5 The estimated annualised capacity of approximately 60 million dry tonnes per annum (27 million dry tonnes Rio Tinto Share) iron ore for the Simandou life of mine schedule was previously reported in a release to the ASX dated 6 December 2023 titled “Investor Seminar 2023”. Rio Tinto confirms that all material assumptions underpinning that production target continue to apply and have not materially changed.
6 Rio Tinto share includes 100% of funding costs for Paraburdoo plant upgrades.