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
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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
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If you want to drive real change, we have just the place to do it
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Supporting new parents of any gender with equal access to parental leave
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According to the World Steel Association, steel is the most commonly used alloy in the world. Global steel consumption is forecast to grow by 1%-2% per annum over the next decade.
The first known steel application dates as far back as 11th century BC, in Cyprus where archaeologists found material suggesting that steel knives were already being made. Four centuries later, the Greek historian Herodotus referred to steel-inlaid bowls and, in the 3rd century BC, South Indian craftsmen were known to produce steel by smelting wrought iron with charcoal, using clay containers.
The Bessemer process to manufacture steel was developed by British inventor Henry Bessemer in the mid-1850s. In the middle of the twentieth century, the Bessemer process was refined into the Basic Oxygen Process that is still used today in blast furnaces.
Today, new technologies have great potential to improve how we engage with our markets. For example, our China portside customers can order iron ore via a mobile app.
Today, we produce five iron ore products in Western Australia – including the Pilbara Blend, the world's most recognised brand of iron ore – used in steelworks as sinter plant feed or direct blast furnace feed.
Our Pilbara Blend products are the world’s most recognised brand of iron ore, and are known for their high-grade quality and consistency. Our Pilbara Blend products make up approximately 70% of our iron ore product portfolio. It is also the largest and most liquid iron in the market today, known as the “US dollar of iron ore”. Our higher grade ores also contribute to reducing GHG and other air emissions, which, along with its liquidity and consistent quality, makes our products the preferred iron ore for the steel industry in China.
Our Yandicoogina products have a 58% iron content and low impurities, and produce a high-iron sinter. It is used by customers in East Asia and Southern China as the base load in their sinter blend.
Our Robe Valley products have a lower iron content and a low phosphorus content, which is valued by specialty steel producers with more niche applications.
Our iron ore operations in the Pilbara comprise a world-class, integrated network of 17 iron ore mines, four independent port terminals, a 2,000-kilometre rail network and related infrastructure. Insights from data help us to explore and extract our iron ore efficiently.
Our Operations Centre in Perth uses next-generation technologies, including artificial intelligence, automation and robotics, to run operations in real-time and respond quickly to changes. Our AutoHaul™ train system is the first fully autonomous, long-distance, heavy-haul rail network – one of the world’s largest robots.
Integrated mines in Western Australia
Mainstream iron ore products
Port terminals
Solar salt operations
Rail network
More
Since its first loaded run in July, we have safely and steadily increased the number of autonomous trips across our iron ore operations in Western Australia. AutoHaul™ have travelled more than 1.6 million kilometres in 2018.
AutoHaul™ improves safety by reducing risk at level crossings and through its automated responses to speed restrictions and alarms. It also eliminates the need to transport drivers to and from trains mid-journey saving almost 1.5 million kilometres of road travel each year. It also improves cycle times by using information about the train and rail network topography to calculate and deliver a safe, consistent driving strategy.
Read more about AutoHaul™
In 2019, we completed the first fully integrated paperless trade in iron ore. The whole process integrated intelligent contracts, electronic documents and a trade finance blockchain resulting in a faster, more streamlined transaction. Total transaction time was reduced from six days to 24 hours. This trade built on our first fully-digitised trade finance transaction completed in 2018.
And in 2022, we achieved first ore at Gudai-Darri, our most technologically advanced mine. In addition to technology already in use across our operations – such as autonomous trucks, trains, and drills – Gudai-Darri’s design is also far more automated and digitised, including advanced data analytics. This level of automation allows us to operate equipment and vehicles remotely from Perth, improving safety and efficiency.
Each of these elements works together to deliver high-quality iron ore to our customers reliably and safely.
Our teams are also using a “digital asset” – a digital replica of the site that combines data from actual processing plants with historical design information to improve the way the plants are run. By using these 3D models, teams can understand the site’s layout and specifications long before they need to enter those areas and perform work.
We’re also using a patented, world-first reclaimer bucketwheel design, which allows our teams to change out the entire bucketwheel for maintenance, improving efficiency and safety. Our primary crusher uses a similar ‘removable’ design, allowing our teams to service it from the top – rather than performing higher-risk work below the crusher – and switch out consumables faster, reducing service and maintenance time. Gudai-Darri will set a benchmark for our industry in terms of automation and the use of data – making mining safer and more productive.
Our Iron Ore Company of Canada (IOC) is a leading North American producer and exporter of premium iron ore pellets and high-grade concentrate. Our operations include a mine with five operational pits, a concentrator and a pelletising plant located near Labrador City, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, in the region known as the “Labrador Trough”, an established basin with significant deposits for the supply of high-grade iron ore products. We also operate a wholly-owned railway that links our operations to our port facilities in Sept-Îles, Quebec.
Our IOC business targets niche, high-value segments of the seaborne iron ore market; our high-grade, low-impurity IOC products allow steelmakers to operate more productively and produce higher quality steels while meeting increasingly stringent environmental standards.
In 2019, we partnered with China’s largest steel producer, China Baowu Steel Group, and Tsinghua University, one of China’s most prestigious and influential universities, to work on a joint action plan – supported by the China Iron Steel Association to explore ways to improve environmental performance across the steel value chain. We will combine our strengths on everything from research and development, technologies, processes, equipment, logistics, industry coordination and policy advisory capacities to bring together solutions to help address the steel industry’s carbon footprint.
In 2021 we announced a partnership with Paul Wurth and SHS-Stahl-Holding-Saar (SHS) to explore the viability of transforming iron ore pellets into low-carbon hot briquetted iron, a low-carbon steel feedstock, using green hydrogen generated from hydro-electricity in Canada. The feasibility study is expected to be complete in late 2021, with an investment decision on a hydrogen based direct reduction plant at industrial scale expected to follow.
Our integrated operations, which include port facilities, ensure we can supply the right quality product to our customers, when they need it. We blend our products at our own ports, which allows us to produce a reliable and consistent product. And because we have dedicated shipping operations, we are able to better control the delivery of product to our customers.
Our mine plans are built to create value from our ore bodies and we use market signals to flex our production mix. We use real-time data analytics and artificial intelligence to respond quickly to market demand, and to help us anticipate future market conditions.
In the Pilbara region of Western Australia, we own an integrated portfolio of world-class iron ore assets
Iron Ore Company of Canada operations are integrated across Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador and Sept-Iles, Quebec
Tackling a global challenge
At the Iron Ore Company of Canada, Michelle has broken a lot of barriers - and “moved a lot of dirt” - thanks to three rules for living and working
Gudai-Darri (Koodaideri) will be our most technologically advanced mine yet
E: rtioasgsales@riotinto.com
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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.
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