Shareholder FAQs

Rio Tinto Limited has appointed Computershare Investor Services Pty Limited as its registrar and you can contact Computershare at:

Contact:

Computershare Investor Services Pty Limited

GPO Box 2975
Melbourne, Victoria 3001
Australia

T (within Australia): 1800 813 292
T (outside Australia): +61 (0) 3 9415 4030
F: +61 (0) 3 9473 2500
W: investorcentre.com/contact

Rio Tinto Limited shares are listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX). Shares listed on ASX can only be bought or sold through a stockbroker. The ASX’s website contains information about how to select a stockbroker.

The Rio Tinto Limited share price is reported in most Australian newspapers.

It is also shown in most UK newspapers usually under “Mining”. If there are two Rio Tinto companies shown one of these will be Rio Tinto Limited, the Australian company. The letters A$ may also appear after the name. Share prices are often quoted alongside a unique code known as a stock exchange ticker. The Australian Securities Exchange ticker for Rio Tinto Limited is RIO.AX and the London Stock Exchange ticker for Rio Tinto plc is RIO.L.

In addition, information on the recent movements in the share price is available from the Rio Tinto website.

Information about historical Rio Tinto share prices is available on the Share Price & Tools page.

Please download a Standard Transfer form and send it to Computershare. Stamp duty may be payable on the transfer. You should refer to the guidance notes on the transfer form for more information.

We pay dividends twice a year, as an “interim” dividend and a “final dividend”. When the financial results for the half year and full year are announced, the level of dividend to be paid to shareholders is also announced.

The dividend is usually paid in April and September and is paid to everyone who holds shares on the “record date”. Upcoming record dates, once published, can be found in the financial calendar. The dividend is determined in US$ but is declared by Rio Tinto Limited in Australian dollars at the exchange rate prevailing one day before the results are announced.

The ex-dividend date is a specific date, occurring after the dividend has been declared from which buyers on the ASX are no longer entitled to receive the last declared dividend. This is known as going “ex-dividend” and before this date the shares are said to be “cum-dividend”. If you buy shares on the ASX before the ex-dividend date, you are entitled to the recently announced dividend. If you purchase shares on or after that date, the previous owner of the shares (and not you) is entitled to the dividend. The ex-dividend date for the latest dividend, once published, can be found in the financial calendar.

This is the date the registrars view the register to prepare the dividend payment. A shareholding must be recorded on the register on this date to receive the dividend. The record date normally falls about three weeks before the dividend is paid. The record date for the latest dividend, once published, can be found in the financial calendar.

You can nominate either an Australian or United Kingdom financial institution account for receipt of payments by direct credit. If you do this your payments will be credited to your nominated account in Australian dollars or pounds sterling as applicable. Payments in pounds sterling will be converted from Australian dollars at the exchange rate applicable 5 business days prior to the dividend payment date. You can provide your bank account details via our secure online facility at investorcentre.com/rio or by contacting Computershare directly.

The US dollar, in which the majority of the Rio Tinto Group’s sales are made, most reliably records the Group's global business performance and is our main reporting currency. It is, therefore, the natural currency in which to determine dividends.

Dividends determined in US dollars are converted at exchange rates applicable two days prior to the announcement of dividends and then declared and paid in Australian dollars for Rio Tinto Limited and in pounds sterling for Rio Tinto plc.

You can nominate either an Australian, United Kingdom or New Zealand financial institution account for receipt of payments by direct credit. If you do this your payments will be credited to your nominated account in Australian dollars, pounds sterling or New Zealand dollars as applicable. Payments in pounds sterling and New Zealand dollars will be converted from Australian dollars at the exchange rate applicable 5 business days prior to the dividend payment date.

A Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP) is available to give shareholders the opportunity to elect for their cash dividend to be used to purchase Rio Tinto ordinary shares in the market, free of commission. As the shares will be purchased in the market, there will be no increase in the Company's issued share capital.

You can access the DRP plan rules at for further information and if you wish to participate, you can elect to do so at investorcentre.com/rio. Alternatively, please contact Computershare for further details.

Your tax obligations will vary depending on your financial circumstances. We recommend you obtain independent financial advice.

Paper copies of all shareholder documents can be obtained by contacting Computershare.

You are able to update your address, payment instructions, DRP elections, tax file numbers and email details via investorcentre.com/rio.

If you are an individual Issuer Sponsored shareholder you can change your address details online at investorcentre.com/rio or contacting Computershare. If you wish to change your address details by phone, you will need to provide your SRN and confirm your full name and old address. Computershare will confirm these details with you and provide a confirmation number. If your shares are maintained by a broker (Broker Sponsored) please send the change of address request and supporting documentation to your broker for processing.

You must notify Computershare of the change in writing. If you wish to change your registered name on an Issuer Sponsored holding, you should provide Computershare with the following information: your shareholder registration number (SRN), old name and registered address, your new name in full, your signature in your new name and an original certified copy of any supporting documentation, such as your marriage certificate. If your shares are maintained by a broker (Broker Sponsored) please send the change of name request and supporting documentation to your broker for processing.

Please contact Computershare for a “Standard Transfer” form, or you can download a form at Computershare website. When you have completed the transfer form, send it to Computershare. A security validation fee is payable to Computershare, the share registrar, for processing this transfer. You should contact Computershare for details of the fee.

Please advise Computershare in writing or by telephone as soon as possible and they will explain what has to be done.

Whilst unified under a dual listed companies structure, Rio Tinto Limited and Rio Tinto plc remain separate legal entities. As Rio Tinto Limited and Rio Tinto plc have separate share registers, there is no facility to transfer shares between the companies.

Since 1998, when paper share certificates were phased out, ownership of shares listed on the ASX has been recorded electronically. Shareholders can choose to have their holdings registered in one of two ways on the Rio Tinto share register – on an Issuer Sponsored Subregister or on the CHESS (Broker Sponsored) Subregister. “CHESS” means the Clearing House Electronic Subregister System. The two types of subregister provide alternative forms of registration for shareholders and the shares they own.

The Holder Identification Number (HIN) identifies your registration on the CHESS Subregister. This form of registration, also known as Broker Sponsored, allows brokers to manage their sponsored client's shareholdings. A HIN is made up of the letter X followed by ten numbers, ie X0001234567. The one HIN can register a client's shareholding in multiple companies. Find out more from Computershare.

Your Shareholder Registration Number (SRN) is a unique number allocated to identify your registered holding on a company's Issuer Sponsored Subregister. It is made up of the letter I followed by ten numbers, ie I0001234567.

The SRN is important information to be used in confirming or amending shareholder details retained by Computershare. If you hold shares in more than one company and choose to be Issuer Sponsored, you will have a different SRN for each shareholding.

You can view details of your Rio Tinto shareholding online at investorcentre.com/rio.

You will need to enter your SRN or HIN and your registered postcode or country (if outside Australia). This service provides read-only access to your Rio Tinto shareholding information.

You can view details of all your holdings for companies registered with Computershare online, if you register with Computershare.

Once you have registered you will be able to view all your holdings and update your details online.

Rio Tinto shareholders are able to receive Annual reports, Notices of meetings and other company mail-outs online via email. If you wish to receive these communications via email, you can elect to do so at investorcentre.com/rio.

Shareholders who choose to receive electronic copies can change their election at any time by contacting Computershare.

If you receive more than one copy of company information, it is because Computershare is holding two or more accounts for you on the share register. If you would like to have the accounts combined into one, you should contact Computershare for a form to request consolidation of your holdings. You can download a “Request to consolidate holdings” form from Computershare's website. There is no charge for doing this.

If you wish to consolidate separate Issuer Sponsored and CHESS holdings, you should contact your broker and they will explain what has to be done.

American Depositary Receipts (ADRs) are negotiable US securities that represent a company's publicly traded equity or debt. ADRs are created when a broker purchases a non-US company's shares on the home stock market and delivers those to the depositary bank's local custodian bank, which then instructs the depositary bank to issue ADRs.

An ADR is a physical certificate evidencing ownership of one or more American Depositary Shares (ADSs). ADSs represent a company's ordinary shares and carry the rights attaching to them. The relationship between the number of ADRs and the number of a company's ordinary shares is typically referred to as the ADR ratio. The ADR certificate sets out the responsibilities of the depositary bank with respect to actions such as payment of dividends, voting at shareholder meetings, and handling of rights offerings.

ADRs may also be purchased in the US secondary trading market. ADRs may trade freely, just like any other security, either on an exchange or in the over-the-counter market.

Rio Tinto plc has an American Depositary Receipt (ADR) programme under which each ADS represents one Rio Tinto plc share held by the depositary

The ADR ratio is one ADR for one Rio Tinto plc share. Prior to 30 April 2010, the ADR ratio was one ADR for four Rio Tinto plc shares.

Contact:

ADR Administrator JPMorgan Chase & Co PO Box 64504 St Paul, MN 55164-0504 US

T: +1 (651) 453 2128

US residents only toll free general: (800) 990 1135

US residents only toll free Global invest direct: (800) 428 4237

E: jpmorgan.adr@wellsfargo.com

Holders of American Depositary Shares are paid dividends, at the declared rate, in US dollars.

Rio Tinto pays dividends twice a year, as an “interim” dividend and a “final dividend”. When the financial results for the half year and full year are announced, the level of dividend to be paid to shareholders is also announced. The dividend is usually paid in April and September and is paid to everyone who holds shares on the “record date”. Upcoming record dates, once published, can be found in the financial calendar. The dividend payable is determined in US dollars by the directors and translated into sterling or Australian dollars at the exchange rate prevailing one day before the results are announced.

This is the date the registrars view the register to prepare the dividend payment. A shareholding must be registered on this date to receive the dividend. The record date normally falls about three weeks before the dividend is paid. The record date for the latest dividend, once published, can be found in the financial calendar.

The ex-dividend date is a specific date, occurring after the dividend has been declared after which buyers are no longer entitled to receive the last declared dividend. This is known as going “ex-dividend” and before this date the shares are said to be “cum-dividend”. If you buy shares before the ex-dividend date, you are entitled to the recently announced dividend. If you purchase shares on or after that date, the previous owner of the shares (and not you) is entitled to the dividend. The ex-dividend date for the latest dividend, once published, can be found in the financial calendar.

Paper copies of all shareholder documents can be obtained free of charge by contacting the Company.

Increasingly, investors aim to diversify their portfolios internationally. ADRs offer a number of advantages to particular investors including:

Quotation and payment of dividends in US dollars

Diversification without many of the difficulties investors have in purchasing and holding securities outside of their local market

Elimination of global custodian safekeeping charges

Familiar trade, clearance and settlement procedures

Ability to acquire the underlying securities directly upon cancellation

Rio Tinto plc ADRs are issued by the depositary bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, when the underlying shares are deposited in a local custodian bank, usually by a broker who has purchased the shares in the open market. Once issued, Rio Tinto plc ADRs may be traded in the US on the New York Stock Exchange.

When the ADR holder sells, the ADR can either be sold to another US investor or it can be cancelled and the underlying shares can be sold to a non-US investor. In the latter case, the ADR is surrendered and the shares held with the local custodian bank would be released back into the home market and sold to the purchaser's broker.

A Rio Tinto ADR holder is able to request delivery of the underlying Rio Tinto shares at any time.

For Rio Tinto plc ADRs, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA (JPMC) operates a Global Invest Direct programme, which allows first time and existing investors to purchase ADRs at reduced costs. All such investments are made through JPMC as transfer agent.

Holders of Rio Tinto plc ADRs are entitled to instruct the depositary bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, as to how to vote in relation to their shareholding at the respective annual general meetings. The voting rights are in relation to the number of Rio Tinto ordinary shares represented by the respective ADRs.