49,000
Employees
35
Countries
37,000
Suppliers
2,000
Customers
2021 figures
Aluminium for lightweight cars. Copper to help things work more efficiently – from renewables to the power in your home. Iron ore for the steel in our electricity infrastructure. Lithium for electric vehicles and battery storage. And many of the materials we provide are used to make the things in everyday life too: like borates that help crops grow and titanium for paint.
We work in 35 countries – in mines, smelters and refineries, as well as in sales offices, data centres, research and development labs and with artificial intelligence. Our geologists explore the Earth’s wildest terrain. Our wildlife specialists work to protect and conserve grizzly bears in Canada and migratory shorebirds in Western Australia. Our marketing teams make sure our essential materials meet the specific needs of customers around the world. And we are home to one of the world’s largest robots and maybe one of the smallest – we call him Mark.
The transition to a low carbon world offers a unique opportunity for us to grow, and to play an important role in tackling this global challenge. We know we have a major carbon footprint, significant scope 1 and 2 emissions and material indirect scope 3 emissions. We must switch to renewables at scale, electrify everything we can electrify, work across our entire value chain and accelerate the development of new technology.
We were founded in 1873, on the banks of the Rio Tinto river in Andalusia, Spain. We are proud of everything we have achieved. At Rio Tinto, we know our future is even brighter than our past.
Our strategy
We are putting the low carbon transition at the heart of our business strategy. In 2021, we set new scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions targets, and refocused our business strategy on three areas:
- Accelerating our own decarbonisation, switching to renewable power, electrifying processing and running electric mobile fleets.
- Prioritising growth capital in commodities that are essential to the drive to net zero, and look to grow further in copper, battery materials and high-quality iron ore.
- Increasing our investment in R&D to speed up the development of products that will enable our customers to decarbonise quicker.
And to achieve this, we will work closely with governments, customers, communities, universities and other partners.
In doing all this, we will maintain our capital discipline and continue to pay attractive dividends. We will continue to focus on world class assets that generate cash flows through the cycle, and our financial strength allow us to do both, while also protecting us against inevitable volatility.
Our four objectives
Delivering on our strategy depends on four objectives set out at the start of 2021: to be the best operator, to achieve impeccable environmental, social and governance (ESG) credentials, to excel in development, and to protect our social licence.
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Best operator
Improving the consistency of the safety and operational performance across our assets is the foundation of our business. We will become the best operator by replicating capabilities from existing pockets of excellence and empowering our people.
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Impeccable ESG credentials
We must ensure all our stakeholders benefit from the success of Rio Tinto. We will achieve impeccable ESG performance by aligning our business priorities with society’s expectations. This is essential to the future of our business.
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Excel in development
Our portfolio is well-placed to meet the commodity needs of future generations, but we also need to build a pipeline of organic and inorganic growth opportunities and establish a strong track record of capital-efficient delivery.
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Social licence
Our social licence to operate is essential and will be judged by all our stakeholders. We know we need to be more responsive and humble, building meaningful relationships with our stakeholders by listening, learning and respecting diverse perspectives.
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Automation
We harness new and emerging technologies to make our operations more efficient, safer and more environmentally friendly. -
Smart mining
Data is one of our most valuable assets. By combining it with clever analytics, artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation, we are making our business safer and more productive. -
Partnering to innovate
We are always open to new ideas about the best way to share value from mining projects in a way that preserves and grows investor returns, creates lasting value for host governments and communities and provides the metals the world needs in an environmentally sustainable way. -
Artificial intelligence
Today, thousands of miles from our mines, we use AI to help our controllers make better decisions