Rio Tinto Iron Ore

Heavyweight unit accounts for a quarter of Group turnover

Rio Tinto Iron Ore is one of the Group's most significant business units.  Its primary assets lie in the Pilbara region of Western Australia with a network of ten mines, three shipping terminals, two power-plants and the largest privately owned railway in Australia. The mines are operated by Pilbara Iron, Hamersley Iron, and Robe River Iron Associates.

Just south of Perth in Kwinana is Rio Tinto Iron Ore's joint venture HIsmelt project which was commissioned in 2005. The plant uses revolutionary direct smelting technology to produce a premium grade iron product in a more environmentally friendly way than traditional smelting.

Australian operations are supplemented by those of the Iron Ore Company of Canada and the Corumba, Brazil, Orissa, India and Simandou, Guinea, projects.  Rio Tinto Iron Ore also has a specialised Expansion Projects Unit to manage US$3 billion worth of projects committed to increase Pilbara Iron's capacity from around 150 to over 300 million tonnes per year.

To put Rio Tinto Iron Ore into perspective, the exporting of 150 million tonnes of iron ore from the Pilbara in 2006 earned almost A$6 billion in export revenue.  The iron ore business unit accounts for about 32 per cent of Rio Tinto's operating assets and around 27 per cent of the group's gross turnover.