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Fact sheet
Iron ore
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Our integrated iron ore operations includemines, rail and port
infrastructure.
Our iron ore business
Rio Tinto is the second largest
supplier to the worlds iron ore trade.Iron is one o the most
commonelements on Earth, comprising about
fve per cent o the Earths crust.Iron is the key ingredient in
theproduction o steel, one o the most
important and durable products ormodern living.
We are the only iron ore producerwith a truly global production
andgrowth platorm. Our integratedoperations including mines,
rail and port inrastructure aredesigned to respond rapidly
tochanges in demand or iron ore.
Rio Tintos key iron ore operationsare in Western Australia and
North
America. From these locations, weare well positioned to take
advantageo demand in developed countries,
and meet growth in demand rom
developing regions such as in Asia.
Rio Tinto is a leading internationalbusiness involved in each
stageo 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.
Through projects such as our Mine o
the Future, were ocusing on ways toproduce more tonnes, more
efciently,in ways that minimise our impact on
the environment and improve the liveso the people who work or us
and thelocal communities.
We are investing in projects in newregions or the Iron Ore
group, notably
in Guinea, west Arica, and Orissa,India. Through these projects,
newmines in the Pilbara and expansionsat our existing operations,
we have
the scope to maintain and extendour leading role in the global
ironore sector.
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Iron
Producing iron
We extract iron ore rom beneath the surace rock, crushit and
sort it, then either transport it by ship to customers,
or send it to smelters in which we extract iron metal romthe
ore.
Most o the iron ore we sell is smelted by our customers inblast
urnaces. The ore is ed into the urnace along withcoke, and very hot
air is blasted in. The chemical reactionsthat take place orm a
mixture o molten iron and slag.
The dense iron sinks to the bottom o the urnace andis tapped o.
Once cooled, it is called pig iron. This
is used to produce steel, or urther refned to
producecommercially pure iron.
Our HIsmelt subsidiary (Rio Tinto: 60 per cent) hasdeveloped an
alternative process that is lower cost, more
efcient and environmentally cleaner than the traditionalblast
urnace. HIsmelt is short or high intensity smelting.It is the
worlds frst commercial direct smelting process,
meaning that it produces premium quality pig iron withno slag
directly rom iron ore. The process allows iron orefnes with
signifcant impurities to be used, and cheaper,
non coking coal instead o coke.
Using iron
Iron is the most useul metal in the world. It is usedin a
variety o orms, in a multitude o applications
in everyday lie:
Cast ironPartly refned iron containing up to fve per cent
carbon.Cast iron is very hard, but brittle, and is ideal or
mouldedparts like car engine blocks.
Wrought ironNearly pure iron mixed with a glass-like material.
Wroughtiron is soter than cast iron and does not rust. It is used
in
outdoor urniture, railings and other decorations.
Steel
The most common orm o iron. It contains aroundone per cent
carbon and has thousands o uses.
Stainless steelThis contains chromium, making it very rust
resistant.Stainless steel is ideal or vehicle parts, hospital
equipment and cooking utensils.
Tool steel
Extremely hard, heat treated steel that is usedin metalworking
tools.
Iron is the most useul metal in the world.
It is used in a variety o orms, in a multitudeo applications in
everyday lie.
Right
Our Pilbara operations comprise 13 mines,three shipping
terminals at two ports anda rail network spanning almost
1,400km.
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The Iron Ore product group is thelargest shipping user in our
business.
Our iron ore operations
Pilbara operationsRio Tintos iron ore operations are
concentrated in the Pilbara regiono north west Western
Australia.This includes our assets owned by
Hamersley Iron and Robe River IronAssociates. Our Pilbara
operationscomprise 13 mines, three shipping
terminals at two ports and a railnetwork spanning almost
1,400km.
We export iron ore rom our portson the Western Australian
coastpredominantly to steelmakersin eastern Asia and Europe.
Our development programme or ourPilbara operations includes
plans
or brownfeld expansion o existingmines, greenfeld development
onew mines and expansion o our key
inrastructure that allows us to getour products to market.
In 2009, our share o production rom
our Pilbara operations was more than170 million tonnes. We have
already
doubled our capacity in the Pilbarasince 2000, and have
introduced asuite o projects to expand capacity
up to 220 million tonnes per year andbeyond. To this end, a
number o newmines are in various stages o
pre-development study.
Our port acilities at Dampier(comprising Parker Point and
East Intercourse Island terminals)
and Cape Lambert are managedas a single port system. We will
upgrade our inrastructure to cateror increased mine capacity.
CapeLambert has been nominated as the
preerred site or expansion o ourPilbara port acilities. We have
alsoinvested more than US$500 million
in cleaner, more sustainable powergeneration to supply
electricity toour port and mine operations.
Rio Tinto has a vision to develop theMine o the Future,
introducingnew and improved ways o mining
through automation and remoteoperation. Weve started
workingtowards this vision in the Pilbara as
part o our current iron ore expansionplans. Weve started an
OperationsCentre in Perth that will eventually
direct most operations some 1,500kmrom our mines; remote
controlleddrills to enable drill-and-blast
extraction o our ore; satellite guidedhaul trucks to transport
ore at themine site; driverless trains to carry it
to port and tele-operated shiploading.These initiatives, and
others, willlet us reduce our environmental
ootprint and operating costs, bemore efcient, and oer our
stamore exible working conditions
and career options.
The Iron Ore group also has
responsibility or Rio Tintos interestin Dampier Salt, which
produces salt
and gypsum, because o the proximityo Dampiers operations to the
Pilbara
iron ore operations.
As the largest shipping user in the
Group, Iron Ore is also responsibleor Rio Tinto Marine, which
owns andcharters vessels or the transport o
Rio Tintos bulk products, includingiron ore.
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The St Lawrence river, Quebec. IronOre Company of Canada exports
iron
ore concentrate and pellets from itsports at Sept-Iles on the St
Lawrence.Left
We operate 13 iron ore mines inthe Pilbara, with another
mineunder construction.
Hamersley Iron
Hamersley Iron operates ten iron oremines, three o which are
held in joint
venture. Two o the joint venturesare with members o the
Chinesesteel industry. The third mine HopeDowns a Rio Tinto joint
venture
with Hancock Prospecting startedproduction in November
2007.Brockman 4, is expected to be
operational rom quarter two, 2010.Hamersley Iron has a dedicated
heavyhaul railway that transports the iron
ore rom our inland mines to the portterminals at Dampier.
Robe River Iron Associates
Rio Tinto has a 53 per cent stakein Robe River, which is the
worlds
ourth largest seaborne trader iniron ore. Rio Tinto gained its
stake inRobe River through the acquisition
o North Limited in 2000. Robe Riverhas three open pit mines:
Mesa A,Mesa J and West Angelas. Rio Tinto
has plans to expand Robe Rivers portat Cape Lambert to
accommodate anyincreased production that may come
rom Pilbara expansion projects.
Iron Ore Company o CanadaIron Ore Company o Canada (IOC)has been
Canadas leading supplier
o iron ore or more than 50 years.Rio Tinto acquired a 59 per
centstake in IOC when it acquired NorthLimited. This gave us our
frst iron
ore production in North America, andalso a new product iron ore
pellets.
IOC mines iron ore rom its open pitmine in Labrador City,
Newoundlandand Labrador. The company
processes the ore to produce ironore concentrate and pellets,
railsthese products to its port at Sept-Iles,
Quebec, then exports them to major
North American, European and Asiansteelmakers.
HIsmelt
Rio Tinto has a 60 per cent interestin the HIsmelt iron making
plantin Kwinana, Western Australia.
The plant is ramping up towardsplanned capacity o 800,000
tonnesper year. HIsmelt is a lower cost,
more efcient, cleaner alternative toconventional iron making
technology.It can oer iron and steelmakers
around the world signifcantenvironmental benefts compared tothe
traditional blast urnace process.
Our keyoperations arein WesternAustralia andNorth America
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We are evaluating newiron ore opportunitiesin Guinea and
India.
Our iron ore projects
The Iron Ore groups growth strategy has involved acommitment o
more than US$9 billion to expand theglobal production platorm or
iron ore since 2003. In
addition to urther planned expansions in WesternAustralia, we
have an exciting portolio o new projects,
in Arica and Asia.
Pilbara projectsRio Tinto has previously prepared or an
aggressiveexpansion programme in the Pilbara over the next
decade
and remains well positioned to execute the next phasein its
strategy. An array o projects designed to supportincreased capacity
up to 330 million tonnes per year is
under way or awaiting decision.
Cape Lambert was early identifed as the preerred site
or any signifcant expansion o Pilbara port acilities,with plans
to construct a new terminal.
In the Robe Valley, a new mine Mesa A/Warramboo has just
commenced production and is expected toramp up to 25 million tonnes
per year capacity rom 2011.
Brockman 4 mine is expected to begin production rommid 2010, as
is the Western Turner Syncline developmentnear Tom Price, and the
proposed Hope Downs 4
development is awaiting a fnal investment decision.
Simandou
A pre-easibility study has been undertaken or thedevelopment o
the Simandou iron ore project in Guinea.This greenfeld discovery is
in one o the best undeveloped
major iron ore provinces in the world. Initial capacity o70
million tonnes per year was targeted, with estimateso potential
uture capacity ranging as high as
170 million tonnes a year.
Orissa
Rio Tinto has a joint venture with the state owned OrissaMining
Corporation, which is seeking to develop iron oreleases in Orissa,
India, one o the key iron ore regions o
the world. With expectations o signifcant inrastructureand
industrial development in India in the mediumand long term, Rio
Tinto is keen to contribute to the
development o the Indian iron ore sector.
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Robe River mines (53%)Mesa A
Mesa JWest Angelas
HIsmelt (60%)
Iron Ore Company o Canada (59%)
Iron ore projects
Orissa (51%)
Simandou (95%)
09
Iron ore operations and projects
Iron ore operations
Hamersley Iron mines
Brockman 2Brockman 4Channar (60%)
Eastern Range (54%)Hope Downs (50% joint venture)Marandoo
Mt Tom PriceNammuldiParaburdoo
Yandicoogina
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1
2
2
3
3
1
4
4
5
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Locations on the map are indicative
Operations and projects are wholly ownedunless otherwise
shown.
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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
