Rio Tinto Copper

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Rio Tinto has interests in copperoperations in South Africa (pictured),the US, Australia, Chile and Indonesia.

Our copper business

The Rio Tinto mine in Spain

supplied copper to the RomanEmpire and is recognised as oneof the greatest copper deposits

ever found. This deposit gave itsname to our company, which todayowns a world class copper business.

Our Copper groups portfoliocomprises a diverse mix of

operations and projects alongthe development pipeline. Weown copper operations whichalso produce gold, silver and

molybdenum by-products and development projects withcopper, nickel and other potential

by-products.

Rio Tinto is a leading internationalbusiness involved in each stageof metal and mineral production.The Group combines Rio Tinto plc,which is listed on the LondonStock Exchange, and Rio TintoLimited, which is listed on theAustralian Securities Exchange.

The Copper groups pipeline of

projects positions Rio Tinto asone of the worlds leading basemetal producers. Nickel projects

in Indonesia and the United Statesalso offer a pathway for us to becomea top tier nickel producer.

In 2009, the Copper group producedaround 800,000 tonnes of copper,

which places it among the topve producers in the world.

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At each stage of processing,copper concentration increasesas impurities are removed.

Copper

Producing copper

Copper can be produced either from open pit orunderground mines. Rio Tintos Bingham Canyon mine

in the United States was one of the rst large scale openpit mines to demonstrate economies of scale with its

use of giant shovels and haul trucks moving hundredsof thousands of tonnes per day.

Now we are using block cave technology for a differentkind of economy of scale in underground mining. Block

caving involves undercutting the orebody to allow rockstresses and gravity to fragment the ore, so that it fallsnaturally through cone shaped funnels to be collected

at drawpoints for hoisting to surface.

Crushed copper ore is nely ground, then concentrated,

smelted and rened. At each stage, the copper contentincreases as impurities are removed. Some of these

impurities may include gold, silver or molybdenum,which can be sold as by-products. Eventually, renedcopper of 99.99 per cent purity is produced.

Other oxide or low grade sulphide copper ores may beprocessed to rened metal by solvent extraction andelectrowinning, bypassing the smelter stage.

Watch From Ore to More an animated lm aboutthe lifecycle of copper at www.kennecott.com.

Using copper

The world uses more than 15 million tonnes of copperevery year. Copper is found in nearly every home and

vehicle, and in parts and appliances used in numerousaspects of infrastructure and technology. In many respects,

modern life would not have been possible without copper.

There is good reason why copper has played an importantrole in human civilisation for thousands of years. It can beeasily shaped, moulded, rolled into sheets, or drawn into

thin wire. It blends easily with other metals to form usefulalloys such as brass and bronze. It does not rust, and is anexcellent conductor of electricity and heat.

Coppers malleability, strength and resistance to corrosionmake it useful in a broad range of building, construction

and electrical applications. Wiring and plumbing arethe largest markets for copper. In air conditioning and

refrigeration, copper acts as a heat exchanger. Its alsoan important material architecturally and used in suchapplications as roong sheet.

Over the past century, demand for copper has increasedwith the industrialisation of developing economies.As the number of people living in cities continues to

grow, there will be increased demand for copper usedin housing, infrastructure and consumer goods.

Copper is found in nearly every home and vehicle,

and in parts and appliances used in numerousaspects of infrastructure and technology.

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Rio Tinto supplies around 18 per cent of US

annual rened copper requirements fromthe Bingham Canyon mine in Utah.

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Bingham Canyon, near SaltLake City, produces copper,gold, molybdenum and silver.Right

The mine has been operatingfor more than 100 years.

Our copper operations

Kennecott Utah CopperKennecott Utah Copper (KUC)(Rio Tinto: 100 per cent) operates the

Bingham Canyon mine, Coppertonconcentrator and a smelter and

renery complex, near Salt Lake City,US. The mine produces copper, gold,molybdenum and silver. As thesecond largest copper producer in theUS (based on 2009 production), KUC

supplies approximately 18 per centof the nations annual renedcopper requirements.

KUC has been operating for more than100 years. It is well positioned on the

industry cost curve, beneting fromsignicant co-product revenues from

gold and molybdenum.

KUC continues to be one of the mostprospective browneld environments

of all Rio Tintos mines and hassignicant options for further minelife extensions. Recent exploration

led to the discovery of a world classmolybdenum deposit underneaththe Bingham open pit. Current

ore reserves will support open pitoperations until 2020 and thiscould be extended to 2032 through

a combination of underground and

open pit options.

KUC is considering building a new

Molybdenum Autoclave Process(MAP) facility to increase the valueit receives from extraction of

molybdenum and rhenium, whichare used as alloy metals. The MAPdesign includes a number of

energy conservation features andan environmentally responsibletechnique for producing molybdenum

products. A steam recovery systemwill be included to capture excesssteam from the autoclave for use in

downstream processes.

GrasbergGrasberg, located in the province

of Papua in Indonesia, is one ofthe worlds largest copper and goldmines in terms of ore reserves and

production. It is owned and operatedby Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), the

principal and 91 per cent ownedsubsidiary of US based Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX).The Government of Indonesia owns

the remaining nine per cent of PTFI.Rio Tinto has a joint venture withFCX giving us a 40 per cent share

of production above specic levelsuntil 2021, and 40 per cent of allproduction after 2021.

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Escondida is the worlds largest coppermine in terms of annual production.Left

Northparkes uses a variety of costeffective block cave mining techniquesin its underground operations.

Escondida

The Minera Escondida coppermine in Chiles Atacama Desert,

of which we own 30 per cent, is thelargest copper mine in the worldin terms of annual production,and has a mine life expected to be

approximately 20 years. Escondidaaccounts for approximately eightper cent of world primary copper

production. BHP Billiton owns57.5 per cent of Escondida and isthe operator and product sales agent.

The Escondida district hosts two ofthe largest porphyry copper deposit

systems in the world, Escondida

and Escondida Norte, located vekilometres from Escondida.

Palabora

Rio Tinto owns a 57.7 per cent stakein South Africas Palabora Mining

Company. The copper operationcomprises an underground mine,a concentrator, a copper smelterwith anode casting facilities and anassociated acid plant, an electrolytic

renery tank house, a rod castingplant and by-product recovery plants.

The deposit was initially mined byopen pit methods, but mining of theopen pit ceased in 2002. Palabora

has developed a US$465 millionblock cave underground mine witha planned production rate of at least

32,000 tonnes of ore per day.

Palabora supplies most of South

Africas copper needs and exportsthe balance. The renery producescontinuous cast rod for the

domestic market and cathodes forexport. Useful by-product metalsand minerals include zirconium

chemicals, magnetite and nickelsulphate as well as small quantitiesof gold, silver and platinum.

Palabora also owns a nearbyvermiculite deposit which is mined

and processed for sale worldwide.Vermiculite is a versatile industrialmineral with hundreds of uses.

The vermiculite operation comprisesan open pit mining operation andrecovery plant. Overseas subsidiaries

in the US, UK and Singaporeare responsible for the sale andmarketing of vermiculite.

NorthparkesNorthparkes is a copper and goldmine located 27 kilometres north west

of Parkes in the Central West of NewSouth Wales, Australia. Northparkesis a joint venture between Rio Tinto

(80 per cent) and the SumitomoGroup (20 per cent).

Northparkes operates bothunderground block cave mines andopen cut mines on its mining leasesand was the rst in the country to

use a variation of the cost effectiveblock cave mining technique in itsunderground operations.

Ore is processed on site to producea high grade copper concentrate

which is then transported by roadtrain to the Goonumbla rail sidingapproximately 13 kilometres from

the mine. The containers are thenplaced on to a train and transportedto Port Kembla, south of Wollongong,

where the concentrate is shipped tocustomers primarily in Japan, Chinaand India.

Northparkes Mines owns 6,000

hectares of land around the mine,of which the mining lease covers1,630 hectares. The remaining landis actively farmed using best practice

farming methods developed andadopted to maximise productivityand quality while conserving water

and soils.

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With Ivanhoe Mines of Canada,we are developing the Oyu Tolgoicopper-gold resource in Mongolia.

Our copper projects

The Copper group has developed a strong portfolio ofcopper and nickel projects and has acquired interests

in four of the worlds largest known undeveloped copperand nickel deposits Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia, Resolutionin the US, La Granja in Peru and Sulawesi in Indonesia.

Resolution CopperThe Resolution Copper project is situated in Superior,Arizona, US, in the area of the depleted Magma Copper

mine. Rio Tinto has a 55 per cent share in the project,in partnership with BHP Billiton. The pre-feasibilitystudy is currently underway.

Exploration from 2001 to 2003 suggests that a large,world class copper resource exists more than 2,000 metres

below surface. Pre feasibility studies are expected to be

completed by 2013 with production at the new mineexpected to start by 2020, eventually ramping up to

500,000 tonnes per annum of copper1.

Oyu TolgoiIn 2006, Rio Tinto purchased a 9.9 per cent stake inIvanhoe Mines of Canada, in order to jointly develop

the Oyu Tolgoi copper-gold resource in Mongoliassouth Gobi region.

In October 2009, Rio Tinto signed an investmentagreement with the Government of Mongolia that clearsthe way for us to develop Oyu Tolgoi, and we subsequently

increased our interest in Ivanhoe Mines to 19.7 per centwith options to increase our stake further.

The operation is currently expected to come into

production as early as 2013 and reach production levelsof 450,000 tonnes of copper and 330,000 ounces of goldper year.

Entre GoldIn 2005, Rio Tinto acquired a 9.9 per cent stake in Entre

Gold Inc., a Canadian junior mining company. In 2007,Rio Tinto exercised warrants that took its direct equityin Entre Gold to 16 per cent. Entre Golds main asset

includes three claims that surround the Ivanhoe Mines

Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia.

La Granja

La Granja in the Cajamarca region of northern Peru is

a copper project currently in the pre-feasibility phase.Rio Tinto acquired the project in 2005 for US$22

million plus a minimum investment of US$60 million,through a public bidding process carried out by thePeruvian Government.

La Granja could represent the largest undevelopedgreeneld copper project in Latin America. It has the

potential to be a very large, long life operation. Insteadof looking at La Granja as a conventional milling operationproducing concentrates for export, the pre feasibility study

is aimed at demonstrating the possibility of recoveringcopper metal using leaching of copper from whole ore,with solvent extraction and electrowinning.

PebbleRio Tinto has a 19.6 per cent equity holding in Northern

Dynasty Minerals which owns a 50 per cent share in thePebble Joint Venture (Rio Tinto share in Pebble: 9.8 percent). Northern Dynasty Minerals is advancing the Pebble

copper-gold-molybdenum deposit in south western Alaska,which includes an orebody amenable to block caving.

Sulawesi NickelThe Sulawesi Nickel project, on the island of Sulawesiin Indonesia, was discovered by Rio Tinto Exploration in2000. This deposit currently ranks as one of the largest

known undeveloped greeneld lateritic nickel depositsin the world.

EagleLate in 2007, Rio Tinto approved the development of theEagle nickel high grade underground mine in Michigan,

US. There are similarities between Eagle and other worldclass magmatic nickel-sulphide deposits. Rio Tinto hasan extensive land position in the Eagle district which is

extremely prospective, including a 30 kilometre identiedtrend containing multiple target intrusions.

1 There are currently no dened Ore Reserves to supply any of the

forecast production for this project. Such production is therefore

subject to dening sufcient Ore Reserves for the project from the

current and any further identied mineralisation.

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Copper projects

La GranjaOyu Tolgoi

(19.7% of Ivanhoe Mines)Pebble (10%)Resolution (55%)

Nickel projectsEagle

Sulawesi

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Copper operations and projects

Copper operations*

Escondida (30%)Grasberg joint venture (40%)Kennecott Utah Copper

Northparkes (80%)Palabora (58%)

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Locations on the map are indicative

Operations and projects are wholly ownedunless otherwise shown.

Gold operations

Rawhide

*By-products may include gold, silver and molybdenum.

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2 Eastbourne Terrace

London W2 6LG

United Kingdom

T +44 (0)20 7781 2000

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120 Collins Street

Melbourne, Victoria 3000

Australia

T +61 (0)3 9283 3333

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