We’re on a mission to become the world’s most valued metals and mining business – for the people who invest in us, the people we work and partner with, and the communities around us
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
2026 half year results
Announced on Wednesday 29 July 2026
Get the latest news, stories and updates
Driving generational growth in the Pilbara
Our plan to invest in Western Australia’s long-term iron ore legacy
Giving materials a second life
How we keep materials in circulation, from extraction to reuse
Driving toward lower emissions
Haul truck battery swapping technology trials are ramping up at Oyu Tolgoi
Discover more about life at Rio Tinto
Graduates and interns
If you want to drive real change, we have just the place to do it
In-house consulting
Discover how our in-house consultancy team, PACE, offers a unique opportunity to help shape Rio Tinto from the inside
Available jobs
Join our team
Water is essential to life. It is inherently linked to healthy, thriving ecosystems and communities, and holds spiritual significance to Indigenous and land-connected Peoples around the world. Water is also an essential resource for our operations, enabling safe access to ore bodies and processing of ore to provide the materials the world needs. As water is a finite shared resource, responsible water stewardship includes safeguarding good quality water to help keep it available and clean for the ecosystems and communities that depend on it. It also supports our operations to be stable and sustainable over the long term. Our commitment to responsible water management and environmental stewardship is outlined through our business objectives, standards, policies and member association commitments. As a founding ICMM member, we are committed to upholding the ICMM Water Stewardship Position Statement.
Read more about our position on our Environment and Nature page.
Managing water safely and responsibly is an important part of how we run our business. Our broad approach to risk and governance is described in our Environment and Nature page. Our Environment Standard outlines the requirements for our managed assets. We have developed a framework that provides a consistent approach to how we identify, assess, manage and communicate water risk across our portfolio. It builds on our Environment Standard and includes a library of controls. The framework aims to verify that water management is both operationally effective and strategically aligned with our environmental commitments, informing decisions and strategic plans for operational and catchment-level decisions beyond operational sites. It covers 4 categories:
Our 2025 water risk profile shows how our exposure varies across the 4 risk categories for our operating assets and active closure sites, excluding projects and recent lithium acquisition sites. Scores are relative, and show the level of potential impact, independent of how likely it is to happen or what measures are in place to manage it. See our Sustainability Fact Book for asset-level ratings. Our standard and control library guide how we monitor and plan for water, use water infrastructure and adapt our approach as conditions change. Water management is connected to other areas of our business and our approach is designed to consider communities, climate change, tailings management and closure.
Several of our assets are in catchments with concentrated industrial development, and we participate in programs that aim to improve how cumulative impacts are understood or managed at a catchment scale. In other areas we manage regional scale infrastructure and strive to maintain open and collaborative engagement with catchment stakeholders. See the Partnerships section below for examples. We also reference external global information sources such as the World Resources Institute’s (WRI) Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas to:
Outcomes of this analysis are described in our Sustainability Fact Book.
Our water performance and data reporting aligns with the ICMM Water Reporting: Good Practice Guide (ICMM, 2021) which has Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) equivalency. View our interactive charts for current and historical data relating to our water performance. Additional information is available in our Sustainability Fact Book.
We maintained a water target program for more than 20 years. Our most recent water target program covered the period 2019-2023 and comprised one company-wide target and 6 site-based targets. For information about the previous water targets refer to our 2023 Annual Report. Our Nature Framework includes water-themed Site Improvement Plans (SIPs). Find out more information about our nature targets program and SIPs.
View our interactive charts for current and historical data relating to our performance across air, biodiversity, land, materials and water.
Note: our disclosures now include data for operating lithium assets acquired via Arcadium.
We recognise the importance of sustainably managing water. Through our water stewardship practices, we aim to protect water quality, improve water-use efficiency, and support equitable access to water resources for the communities near where we operate. This includes providing all employees and contractors with access to safe drinking water, gender appropriate sanitation and hygiene at work.
Examples:
We are among the most transparent in the industry regarding our water stewardship. On 22 March 2023 we disclosed our operations' surface water allocation, latest annual water usage and the associated average catchment rainfall runoff, as well as a 5-year view on historical annual water usage. The information is available through an interactive platform, searchable by location, operation or project.
With catchments recognised as a proxy for community and environment interdependencies, our disclosure is a platform to expand our foundation of trust with our stakeholders, further develop our understanding of cumulative and indirect catchment impacts and align with our commitment to the ICMM water position statement.
We are committed to building on this disclosure, including information about groundwater withdrawals and the receiving environment through our nature target program.