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
Fuelling our tanks with renewable diesel
Diesel made from renewable raw materials is helping us reduce emissions
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
Join our team
We pay our respects to Elders past and present and commit to supporting and developing tomorrow’s Indigenous leaders from within our business – and beyond.
Many of our operations are on or near land that is significant to Indigenous communities. We recognise the cultural, spiritual and physical connections that Indigenous peoples have with land, water, plants and animals.
We know we have work to do to be better partners with Indigenous peoples. There have been defining moments, such as Juukan Gorge, that have compelled us to evolve our approach. We are determined to strengthen our approach to engagement with Indigenous peoples in every country where we work.
We remain committed to learning and moving forward in new ways – always side by side – with the communities that host us.
We reiterate our commitment to respect internationally recognised human rights aligned with the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and to implement core international standards, including the UNGPs.
For over 20 years, I’ve been trying to change an industry that has excluded, displaced and exploited Native people
Key insights from our Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm’s Melbourne Mining Club discussion
We’re working with community seed collectors to improve how we restore land after mining
Indigenous peoples are entitled to all human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In addition, international law recognises their collective rights to their land and its resources, inclusive of special and spiritual relationships they may have with both, warrant particular attention and protection.
We seek to operate in a manner consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which recognises the right of Indigenous peoples to “maintain and strengthen their distinctive spiritual relationship with their traditionally owned or otherwise occupied and used lands, territories, waters and coastal seas and other resources” (Article 25).
We strive to achieve the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples (as defined in the IFC Performance Standard 7 on “Indigenous Peoples”) in line with the International Council on Mining and Metals position statement on Indigenous peoples and mining.
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"When I was 29, I quit my job as a budding diplomat with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. While it was a job that many people dream of, it just wasn’t for me. I couldn’t see myself doing that job for the rest of my life. I took a year off work. I mowed lawns and did landscape gardening in my hometown of Mount Isa, Queensland, Australia. A job came up at Mount Isa Mines and I became the first Senior Indigenous Affairs Adviser in the company’s history.
There were few Indigenous people in professional roles in the industry at that time. I developed the Company’s Indigenous Affairs strategy, managed cultural heritage, designed and delivered cultural awareness programmes. I also convinced mine management to work with the Kalkadoon Native Title claimants and not against them. I‘ve been told that the mine and Traditional Owners still enjoy a close and positive relationship as a result of that decision 21 years ago. I’m proud of this legacy. Since then my work in the mining industry has taken me all over Australia and across Africa. I’ve had an amazing career.
Indigenous employees must be at the front and centre of Rio Tinto’s cultural transformation following the tragic events of Juukan Gorge.
Leadership at the site and every level of the company must be actively guided and informed by Indigenous experiences, our views and our voices. We know our communities the best.
I’ve seen the benefits of active Indigenous employee engagement. It is well founded that sharing personal experiences and stories helps to significantly shift attitudes and understanding. My vision is that our communities and employees are fully supported in Rio Tinto to grow and be their very best.”
Our approach to engaging with Indigenous peoples aligns with the ICMM Sustainability Framework, the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. We use the International Finance Corporation's (IFC) Performance Standards on Environmental and Social Sustainability; our CSP standard commits us to compliance with the following IFC Performance Standards:
As members of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM), we support the commitments outlined in ICMM’s Indigenous Peoples and Mining Position statement and ICMM’s Mining Principles. We also support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
We have established an Australian Advisory Group (AAG) to provide guidance on current and emerging issues, and better manage policies and positions that are important to both Australian communities and our broader business.
We have confirmed the inaugural Chairperson as Professor Peter Yu, and other members include Michelle Deshong, Nyadol Nyuon, Yarlalu Thomas, Djawa Yunupingu, Cris Parker, and Shona Reid. The first AAG meeting was held in March 2022.
We are refining, updating, and enhancing our management systems, standards and reporting to ensure we understand and manage risk.
We will provide specialised regional and technical support through deep subject matter expertise in the areas of Indigenous People, heritage, agreements, economic development, resettlement, social impact analysis, and social risk.
We are undertaking a refresh of our global communities and social performance (CSP) standard and will review our CSP risks and controls across our business. We are monitoring the external environment and engaging with stakeholders to ensure we respond to emerging trends in practical and appropriate ways.
We know we must build a culture of active inclusion and cultural safety, where people live our values and speak up freely if something does not feel right.
In Australia, we are reinvigorating our cultural awareness training, with all frontline staff, including the Board, undertaking both e-learning and face-to-face training with Indigenous Australians. Traditional Owners have viewed this content and where possible also attend training sessions to share further information. At our Iron Ore business in the Pilbara, we started delivering a newly co-developed cultural awareness training via immersive virtual reality. We are also rolling out regionally specific, Traditional Owner-led cultural awareness training in the Pilbara.
In North America, two virtual cultural awareness sessions were facilitated by an Indigenous-owned business, and numerous site-based sessions were held in 2021, including at our IOC operations, which have introduced mandatory cultural awareness for employees and contractors and achieved full compliance in 2021. We have also launched online cultural awareness training on Canadian Indigenous peoples’ history, culture and industry interaction.
We want to inspire a shared sense of custodianship of the land, and an elevated understanding and empathy towards the region's Traditional Owners, their culture, heritage and story.”
- Jason, Traditional Owner Engagement
in Australian Indigenous leaders since 2020
Increase in spend with Indigenous suppliers in Australia from 2021 to 2022 to A$565 million
spent with Indigenous suppliers in Canada
signed with Indigenous rights holders across our global footprint
Established
2022 figures
We support strengthening safeguards for cultural heritage at both state and Commonwealth legislative levels, including the reform process currently underway to ensure an incident like the destruction of rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in Western Australia never happens again.
These reforms must ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are placed at the centre of decision-making on matters relating to protection of their cultural heritage.
We continue to work with Indigenous peoples and communities to ensure we better understand their priorities and concerns, minimise our impacts, and responsibly manage Indigenous cultural heritage within our operations.
We welcome the release of a joint Commonwealth Government and First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance Discussion Paper designed to strengthen state and federal cultural heritage protection laws.
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.
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