Rio Tinto (corporation)
Rio Tinto Group is a British-Australian multinational company that is the world's second largest metals and mining corporation (behind BHP). It was founded in 1873 when a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto, in Huelva, Spain, from the Spanish government. It has grown through a long series of mergers and acquisitions. Although primarily focused on extraction of minerals, it also has significant operations in refining, particularly the refining of bauxite and iron ore. It has joint head offices in London, England and Melbourne, Australia.
Rio Tinto headquarters in Melbourne, Australia | |
| Company type | Dual-listed company |
|---|---|
| ASX: RIO LSE: RIO NYSE: RIO FTSE 100 Index component S&P/ASX 200 component | |
| Industry | Metals and Mining |
| Founded | 29 March 1873 |
| Headquarters | London, England Melbourne, Australia |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Dominic Barton (Chairman) Jakob Stausholm (Chief executive) |
| Products | Iron ore, Bauxite, Alumina, Aluminium, Copper, Molybdenum, Gold, Diamonds, Uranium, Titanium Dioxide, Borates, Salt, Talc |
| Revenue | US$55.554 billion (2022) |
| US$19.933 billion (2022) | |
| US$13.076 billion (2022) | |
| Total assets | US$96.744 billion (2022) |
| Total equity | US$52.274 billion (2022) |
Number of employees | 52,000 (2024) |
| Website | www |
Rio Tinto is a dual-listed company traded on both the London Stock Exchange, where it is a component of the FTSE 100 Index, and the Australian Securities Exchange, where it is a component of the S&P/ASX 200 index. American depositary shares of Rio Tinto's British branch are also traded on the New York Stock Exchange, giving it listings on three major stock exchanges. In the 2020 Forbes Global 2000, it was ranked the world's 114th-largest public company.
In May 2020, to expand the Brockman 4 mine, Rio Tinto demolished a sacred cave in Juukan Gorge, Western Australia, which had evidence of 46,000 years of continual human occupation, and was considered the only inland site in Australia to show signs of continual human occupation through the last Ice Age. The company later apologised for the demolition and CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques subsequently stepped down.
Rio Tinto has been widely criticised by environmental groups as well as the government of Norway for the environmental impacts of its mining activities. Claims of severe environmental damage related to its engagement in the Grasberg mine in Indonesia led the Government Pension Fund of Norway to exclude it from its investment portfolio.
Academic observers have also expressed concern regarding Rio Tinto's operations in Papua New Guinea, which they allege were one catalyst of the Bougainville separatist crisis. There have also been corruption concerns: In July 2017 the UK's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) announced an investigation of the company's business practices in Guinea.