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
We supply the metals and minerals used to help the world grow and decarbonise
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
Bringing to market materials critical to urbanisation and the transition to a low-carbon economy
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
Tailings
We’ve launched a new interactive map of our tailings facilities
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
Results
Half Year Results 2023 released 26 July
Get the latest news, stories and updates
Nammuldi rock shelter
Our statement on the Nammuldi rock shelter
The slow journey from red mud to green plants
Finding new ways to rehabilitate red mud
Rio Tinto commits $150 million to Centre for Future Materials led by Imperial College London
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
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We do this in partnership with our stakeholders, embedding closure considerations throughout the lifespan of our assets – in the way we design, build, run, close and transition them.
As temporary stewards of the land where we operate, we partner with our stakeholders to develop a shared vision for the future of the lands and host communities. Balancing environmental, financial and social considerations, we look for opportunities associated with progressive closure, remediation and repurposing, and, where appropriate, long-term monitoring and maintenance.
At the end of 2022, closure provisions on our balance sheet totalled $15.8 billion (2021: $14.5 billion).
How an environmentalist became the CEO of a mining company
Protecting cultural heritage in the Pilbara
Restoring legacy and former mine sites is a complex, industry-wide challenge – one that we need to get right.
We are partnering with RESOLVE, a non-profit organisation, to launch Regeneration, a start-up that will use the re-mining and processing of waste from legacy mine sites to support rehabilitation activities and restore natural environments.
Regeneration will extract valuable minerals and metals from mine tailings, waste rock and water. Earnings from the sale of these responsibly-sourced materials will be reinvested to help fund habitat restoration and closure activities, including at legacy and previously abandoned mine sites. Regeneration will also seek to create and trade biodiversity and carbon credits through the rehabilitation of land and the generation of environmental offsets.
We will invest $2 million in Regeneration and will work with the team to identify potential opportunities for the first Regeneration project.
We continue to close the Argyle diamond mine in Western Australia. In 2022, we completed the high-reach demolition of structures and processing equipment on site and progressed reprofiling and rehabilitation works. We are engaging with Miriwoong and Gija Traditional Owners on how to best support and expand meaningful participation as we progress closure activities.
While mining continues at our Gove bauxite operations in the Northern Territory in Australia, we are implementing progressive closure activities, including the decommissioning and demolition of the refinery and progressive capping of the bauxite residue disposal areas.
In 2022, we completed the relocation of essential services, including electrical and water, from the refinery footprint to begin safe demolition. This work supports the security of services for the town of Nhulunbuy post closure.
Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) is rehabilitating the Ranger uranium mine in the Northern Territory, Australia. We are committed to the successful rehabilitation of Ranger to a standard that will establish an environment similar to the adjacent Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage site. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners, the Mirarr people’s, consistent opposition to developing the Jabiluka uranium deposit and restate our full support for ERA’s commitment that the deposit would never be developed without the Mirarr people’s consent. Our utmost priority and commitment is to the rehabilitation of the Ranger Project Area in a way that is consistent with the wishes of the Mirarr people.
Following ERA’s announcement of cost and schedule overruns in February 2022, we sought to work constructively with ERA’s Independent Board Committee (IBC) to find a funding solution to meet its rehabilitation obligations. This included engaging for several months on an interim entitlement offer that was deferred by the IBC in July 2022 when its proposed terms failed to obtain major shareholder support.
In October 2022, ERA’s IBC resigned as directors of ERA to allow for the introduction of new perspectives to address the rehabilitation costs.
While a funding solution for the rehabilitation is being identified and agreed by new ERA Independent Directors, we agreed to amend an existing A$100 million credit facility to assist ERA with its management of immediate liquidity issues.
Together with ERA and other key stakeholders including the Mirarr people, we supported the recent amendments to the Atomic Energy Act 1953 (Cth), which will allow rehabilitation activities at Ranger to extend beyond the previously legislated timeframe of January 2026.
We manage over 90 legacy assets in nine countries. Where appropriate, we rehabilitate these sites and work with local stakeholders to transition them to their next use. For example, at Mount Rosser in Jamaica, an inactive bauxite reside storage facility, we have covered 95% of the site with vegetation, seeing a diverse and sustainable mix of plant species all using a top-soil-free rehabilitation method.
We progressed rehabilitation at Pohatcong, a packaging site in New Jersey, US by completing in-situ thermal remediation to treat and eliminate contaminates in soil. In France, we completed our post-mining obligations at Le Thoronet, a former bauxite mine, and handed back the site to the French authorities for monitoring and maintenance. We continue to work in partnership with the French Ministry of Ecological Transition to further restore the site and create a diverse space with public hiking trails set to open in 2023.
We continued work on our GISTM compliance plan, and in 2022, we strengthened our knowledge of legacy sites.
We’ve disclosed detailed information on 14 of our global tailings facilities in line with the Global Industry Standard on Tailings Management
We completed six asset closure strategies in 2022, now in place for 38 of our operations.
These strategies create a progressive vision for future land use after our operations cease and focus on opportunities to reduce closure costs and risks over the asset lifecycle. All of our operating sites have closure plans. We review these plans regularly to align with stakeholder expectations and to incorporate lessons learned from other closure projects. At operations with joint ownership structures, we work in partnership with other asset owners to ensure closure is considered throughout asset design, planning and operations.
Successful closure needs to align with the expectations of host communities and governments. We are developing new approaches to engagement, such as co-creation of the future use and landform, co-execution and co-governance. To achieve this, we are working with host communities, including Indigenous partners, on rehabilitation, revegetation and long-term monitoring at many sites.
We look for opportunities across our portfolio to contribute to decarbonisation efforts for the communities where we operate. For example, at our Gove bauxite operations, we are working to introduce solar power into the grid to support sustainable power for the region beyond mining.
We partner with universities, governments and other organisations to find opportunities to repurpose and reprocess mineral and industrial waste, improve treatment and valorisation of mining-influenced waters, and explore the social aspects of mine closure. For example:
We manage a number of historic sites – known as legacy sites – some we did not operate but acquired through corporate acquisitions after they were closed. Where required, we rehabilitate these sites and, where and when we can, transfer them to local authorities or third parties for future land use.
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Our Kelian team rehabilitated the 6,670-hectare gold mine site, including remediating waste dumps and building dams to protect ground and surface water from mine tailings, and converting areas that lay beneath the processing plant into a wetland.
It’s hoped the sanctuary could provide the lifeline that Kalimantan’s remaining Sumatran rhinos need to begin their recovery – and is just one example of the contribution that thoughtful closure of former mine sites can make.
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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.
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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.
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