(Bloomberg) — Anglo American Plc still wants full control of some of its most profitable units, but said it will wait for the right time.

While joint ventures in mining are common, Anglo’s position is more unique in that it’s the majority shareholder in two public South African companies that are also among its best earners.

Anglo owns 79% of Anglo American Platinum Ltd., which reported record first-half profits this week. It also controls Kumba Iron Ore Ltd.. Both companies are listed in Johannesburg.

There has long been speculation that Anglo could look look to take complete control of the businesses. The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Cutifani, said Wednesday the company should remain patient.

“We always look at those sort of minorities,” he said on call with investors and analysts. “If I said those sorts of things remained important opportunities for us, then the answer is yes. It has to be done in the right way, it has to be done at the right time.”

Anglo earlier reported its highest ever interim profit and said it will spend $4.1 billion on dividends and share buybacks as the century-old miner joined its peers in cashing in on surging commodity prices.

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VANCOUVER, BC, July 29, 2021 /CNW/ – (TSX: LUC) (BSE: LUC) (Nasdaq Stockholm: LUC)

Lucara Diamond Corp. ("Lucara" or the "Company") is pleased to announce the recovery of a 393.5 carat top white Type IIa gem quality diamond from its 100% owned Karowe Diamond Mine located in Botswana (image attached). The diamond was recovered from direct milling of ore sourced from the M/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe. During the same production month a 156.2 carat top white gem quality diamond was also recovered from processing of M/PK(S) material. The 393 carat diamond is the 7^th diamond greater than 300 carats to be recovered at Karowe year to date and the third gem quality +300 carat produced from the M/PK(S) unit in 2021, along with the 341 carat (January 14, 2021) and 378 carat (January 26, 2021) top white gems recovered in January of this year. View PDF version.

Eira Thomas, CEO commented: "Lucara is pleased to announce the recovery of the 393 carat Type IIa white from the M/PK(S) unit of the South Lobe, the third +300 carat white gem from the M/PK(S) in 2021. This recent recovery continues to demonstrate the strong and consistent resource performance of the South Lobe. The 393 carat and 156 carat diamonds add to the collection of significant diamond recoveries in 2021, as Lucara looks to ramp up construction activities for the proposed underground expansion at Karowe."

This press release has been reviewed and approved by Dr. John Armstrong, Ph.D. P.Geol., Vice-President, Technical Services of the Company and a "Qualified Person" for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.

Eira Thomas
President and Chief Executive Officer

Follow Lucara Diamond on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn

ABOUT LUCARA

Lucara is a leading independent producer of large exceptional quality Type IIa diamonds from its 100% owned Karowe Mine in Botswana and owns a 100% interest in Clara Diamond Solutions, a secure, digital sales platform positioned to modernize the existing diamond supply chain and ensure diamond provenance from mine to finger. The Company has an experienced board and management team with extensive diamond development and operations expertise. The Company operates transparently and in accordance with international best practices in the areas of sustainability, health and safety, environment and community relations.

The information in this release is accurate at the time of distribution but may be superseded or qualified by subsequent news releases.

This information is information that the Company is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out, at 2:00pm Pacific Time on July 29, 2021.

CAUTIONARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

Certain of the statements made and contained herein and elsewhere constitute forward-looking statements as defined in applicable securities laws. Generally, these forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "expects", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "potential", "possible" and similar expressions, or statements that events, conditions or results "will", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved.

Forward-looking statements are based on the opinions and estimates of management as of the date such statements are made and they are subject to a number of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the Company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievement expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The Company believes that expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, but no assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be accurate and such forward-looking information included herein should not be unduly relied upon. The value of the Company's shares, its financial results and its mining activities are significantly affected by the price and marketability of the diamonds recovered. The sales price of a diamond is determined by its characteristics. While the Karowe Diamond Mine has produced a number of large, high-value diamonds in excess of 100 carats, there is no assurance that the diamonds recovered which are 100 carats or larger will have the characteristics required to achieve a high sales price.

There can be no assurance that such forward looking statements will prove to be accurate, as the Company's results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in this forward-looking information as a result of those factors discussed in or referred to under the heading "Risks and Uncertainties" in the Company's most recent Annual Information Form available at http://www.sedar.com, as well as changes in general business and economic conditions, changes in interest and foreign currency rates, the supply and demand for, deliveries of and the level and volatility of prices of rough diamonds, costs of power and diesel, acts of foreign governments and the outcome of legal proceedings, inaccurate geological and recoverability assumptions (including with respect to the size, grade and recoverability of mineral reserves and resources), and unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of plant, equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalations, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job actions, adverse weather conditions, and unanticipated events relating to health safety and environmental matters).

Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements which speak only as of the date the statements were made, and the Company does not assume any obligations to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as required by law.

SOURCE Lucara Diamond Corp.

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2021/29/c4728.html

VANCOUVER, BC, July 28, 2021 /CNW/ – (TSX: LUC) (BSE: LUC) (Nasdaq Stockholm: LUC) Lucara Diamond Corp. ("Lucara" or the "Company") announces that it will be publishing its 2021 Second Quarter Results on Tuesday, August 10, 2021 after market close in North America. Please view PDF version.

The Company will host a conference call and webcast to discuss the results on Wednesday, August 11, 2021 at 7:00 a.m. Pacific, 10:00 a.m. Eastern, 3:00 p.m. UK, 4:00 p.m. CET.

CONFERENCE CALL:
Please call in 10 minutes before the conference call starts and stay on the line (an operator will be available to assist you).

Conference ID:
03343101 / Lucara Diamond

Dial-In Numbers:

Webcast:
To view the live webcast presentation, please log on using this direct link:
https://produceredition.webcasts.com/starthere.jsp?ei=1483811&tp_key=0dc7900db8

The presentation slideshow will also be available in PDF format for download from the Lucara website (Link to presentation).

Conference Replay:
A replay of the telephone conference will be available two hours after the completion of the call until August 18, 2021.

The pass code for the replay is: 343101 #.

On behalf of the Board,

Eira Thomas
President and Chief Executive Officer

Follow Lucara Diamond on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn

ABOUT LUCARA
Lucara is a leading independent producer of large exceptional quality Type IIa diamonds from its 100% owned Karowe Mine in Botswana and owns a 100% interest in Clara Diamond Solutions, a secure, digital sales platform positioned to modernize the existing diamond supply chain and ensure diamond provenance from mine to finger. The Company has an experienced board and management team with extensive diamond development and operations expertise. The Company operates transparently and in accordance with international best practices in the areas of sustainability, health and safety, environment and community relations.

The information in this release is accurate at the time of distribution but may be superseded or qualified by subsequent news releases.

The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 6:00 a.m. Pacific Time on July 28, 2021.

SOURCE Lucara Diamond Corp.

View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/July2021/28/c2002.html

We often see insiders buying up shares in companies that perform well over the long term. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of examples of share prices declining precipitously after insiders have sold shares. So before you buy or sell Canterra Minerals Corporation (CVE:CTM), you may well want to know whether insiders have been buying or selling.

Do Insider Transactions Matter?

It is perfectly legal for company insiders, including board members, to buy and sell stock in a company. However, most countries require that the company discloses such transactions to the market.

Insider transactions are not the most important thing when it comes to long-term investing. But equally, we would consider it foolish to ignore insider transactions altogether. For example, a Columbia University study found that 'insiders are more likely to engage in open market purchases of their own company’s stock when the firm is about to reveal new agreements with customers and suppliers'.

Check out our latest analysis for Canterra Minerals

Canterra Minerals Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by insider Eric Sprott for CA$2.6m worth of shares, at about CA$0.20 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of CA$0.27. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

While Canterra Minerals insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are plenty of other companies that have insiders buying up shares. You probably do not want to miss this free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

Insiders at Canterra Minerals Have Bought Stock Recently

It's good to see that Canterra Minerals insiders have made notable investments in the company's shares. We can see that insider Eric Sprott paid CA$2.6m for shares in the company. No-one sold. That shows some optimism about the company's future.

Insider Ownership

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. Canterra Minerals insiders own about CA$7.3m worth of shares (which is 40% of the company). Most shareholders would be happy to see this sort of insider ownership, since it suggests that management incentives are well aligned with other shareholders.

So What Does This Data Suggest About Canterra Minerals Insiders?

The recent insider purchase is heartening. We also take confidence from the longer term picture of insider transactions. However, we note that the company didn't make a profit over the last twelve months, which makes us cautious. Along with the high insider ownership, this analysis suggests that insiders are quite bullish about Canterra Minerals. Looks promising! While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. For instance, we've identified 3 warning signs for Canterra Minerals (1 is significant) you should be aware of.

Of course Canterra Minerals may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of high quality companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions, but not derivative transactions.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

European markets were mixed on Wednesday as earnings season kicked off in earnest, with a slew of banks reporting results alongside other big hitters. 

In London the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) was up 0.3% by the closing bell, having seen few changes throughout the day. Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) was up 0.3% and France's CAC (^FCHI) headed 1% higher following a day of losses. 

Investors held their nerve on an interesting day of trade with earning reports from Metro Bank (MTRO.L), Santander (SAN.MC), Barclays (BARC.L), Aston Martin (AML.L), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L), ITV (ITV.L), Deutsche Bank (DB), and Rio Tinto (RIO.L). 

In the US, stocks made muted moves by the end of the day in London following some big-hitting tech earnings the day before. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) was 0.1% higher, the Dow (^DJI) was down 0.1% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) rose 0.6%.

Apple (AAPL) and Google parent Alphabet (GOOGL) both reported earnings that beat Tuesday night's expectations. 

Investors in the US will be pulled in different directions later on Wednesday due to the end of the Federal Reserve's policy meeting. 

Read more: Results round-up: What you need to know as earnings season kicks off

“It’s not enough to be making money now, investors need to know companies have a clear plan to make money tomorrow," said Danni Hewson, financial analyst at AJ Bell. "It’s been fascinating to watch share movements over the past couple of weeks as earnings season’s delivered day after day of stellar results.  

"But this quarter is skewed, pandemic winners have probably reached peak boom and pandemic losers have yet to show turnaround growth. For Q2 more than ever it’s the outlook that’s been scrutinised, how well have bosses transmitted their future plans and how confident are shareholders."

Meanwhile, it was a mixed day of trade in Asia, following a heavy selloff the day before due to regulatory action in China. The Hang Seng (^HSI) reversed some of its losses to the tune of 0.9%, the SSE Composite (000001.SS) continued downward, and Japan's Nikkei (^N225) lost 1.4%.

On Monday, the Hang Seng had slid to its lowest level since May 2020, as news reverberated that Beijing was cracking down on parts of the tech and education industries. 

According to the new reforms, these companies are not permitted to make profits or participate in stock markets in order to raise capital.

Watch: What are SPACs?

(Bloomberg) — Rio Tinto Group, the world’s biggest iron ore miner, reported its highest-ever interim profit and will pay $9.1 billion in dividends as the company and its global rivals cash in on this year’s commodities rally.

Rio is the first of the majors to post earnings, kicking off a reporting season that’s expected to see record results across the board. The industry has been one of the biggest beneficiaries from the world’s efforts to emerge from the pandemic. The trillions of dollars poured into recovery packages have ignited demand for commodities like iron ore and copper, driving prices sharply higher and sending inflation pressures rippling through the global economy.

Wednesday’s results are also the first period under the leadership of new Chief Executive Officer Jakob Stausholm, who was appointed after Jean-Sebastien Jacques left the company because of a backlash over Rio’s destruction of an ancient Aboriginal site last year. The surge in commodity prices means the new boss comes in on a high note for Rio, even as the company grapples with a slew of production setbacks that have dogged its operations in recent years.

Disruptions caused by Covid, and especially the company’s ability to move workers to its sites, added to existing problems in the first half, especially around the development of a copper project in Mongolia and at its key profit-driving iron ore mines in Western Australia. Rio’s copper business has also seen production fall as Covid takes its toll.

“In the first half we experienced too much operation instability. We have to sharpen the consistency of our performance,” the CEO said on a media call. “While today’s results clearly demonstrate the underlying quality of our asset base, our operational performance clearly is not where it has been in the past or where we want it to be.”

Stausholm also sounded a cautious note on the outlook for commodities demand in top consumer China.

“The long-term potential for China is still intact but we probably have seen a non-sustainable high level of industrial development in some of the months in the first half of this year,” he said on a call with reporters.

Rio’s shares slipped 0.6% in London, in line with a wider decline among most of its peers.

The company reported first-half underlying earnings more than doubled to $12.2 billion from the same period last year as prices for iron ore and copper surged. The half-year payout — which includes a special dividend of $3 billion — is more than the mining giant returned to shareholders for the whole of 2020 and higher than analysts forecast.

While Rio’s paying out record amounts to shareholders, the company signaled this week it’s also keen to invest in growing production in key commodities — particularly those that will benefit from the world’s shift toward green energy.

The company announced Tuesday it plans to spend $2.4 billion building a lithium mine in Serbia. While it’s the first big move by a mining major into lithium, used in rechargeable batteries, the investment reflects an ongoing push by the world’s biggest mining companies into “future facing” commodities like battery metals or fertilizer, at the same time that the industry is moving to get out of fossil fuels.

“Rio appears to be shifting from austerity and capital returns to more of a focus on growth,” Jefferies analyst Christopher LaFemina wrote in a note. “While Rio had some operational issues in the period, the big picture here is that these are stellar financial results.”

(Updates with comments from CEO in fifth paragraph.)

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©2021 Bloomberg L.P.

RIO earnings call for the period ending June 30, 2021.

How far off is Gem Diamonds Limited (LON:GEMD) from its intrinsic value? Using the most recent financial data, we'll take a look at whether the stock is fairly priced by taking the expected future cash flows and discounting them to today's value. We will use the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model on this occasion. It may sound complicated, but actually it is quite simple!

We would caution that there are many ways of valuing a company and, like the DCF, each technique has advantages and disadvantages in certain scenarios. Anyone interested in learning a bit more about intrinsic value should have a read of the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Check out our latest analysis for Gem Diamonds

Step by step through the calculation

We're using the 2-stage growth model, which simply means we take in account two stages of company's growth. In the initial period the company may have a higher growth rate and the second stage is usually assumed to have a stable growth rate. In the first stage we need to estimate the cash flows to the business over the next ten years. Where possible we use analyst estimates, but when these aren't available we extrapolate the previous free cash flow (FCF) from the last estimate or reported value. We assume companies with shrinking free cash flow will slow their rate of shrinkage, and that companies with growing free cash flow will see their growth rate slow, over this period. We do this to reflect that growth tends to slow more in the early years than it does in later years.

A DCF is all about the idea that a dollar in the future is less valuable than a dollar today, and so the sum of these future cash flows is then discounted to today's value:

10-year free cash flow (FCF) forecast

("Est" = FCF growth rate estimated by Simply Wall St)
Present Value of 10-year Cash Flow (PVCF) = US$54m

After calculating the present value of future cash flows in the initial 10-year period, we need to calculate the Terminal Value, which accounts for all future cash flows beyond the first stage. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a country's GDP growth. In this case we have used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (0.9%) to estimate future growth. In the same way as with the 10-year 'growth' period, we discount future cash flows to today's value, using a cost of equity of 7.1%.

Terminal Value (TV)= FCF₂₀₃₁ × (1 + g) ÷ (r – g) = US$5.2m× (1 + 0.9%) ÷ (7.1%– 0.9%) = US$85m

Present Value of Terminal Value (PVTV)= TV / (1 + r)¹⁰= US$85m÷ ( 1 + 7.1%)¹⁰= US$43m

The total value, or equity value, is then the sum of the present value of the future cash flows, which in this case is US$97m. To get the intrinsic value per share, we divide this by the total number of shares outstanding. Compared to the current share price of UK£0.6, the company appears around fair value at the time of writing. The assumptions in any calculation have a big impact on the valuation, so it is better to view this as a rough estimate, not precise down to the last cent.

Important assumptions

We would point out that the most important inputs to a discounted cash flow are the discount rate and of course the actual cash flows. If you don't agree with these result, have a go at the calculation yourself and play with the assumptions. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Gem Diamonds as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 7.1%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.161. Beta is a measure of a stock's volatility, compared to the market as a whole. We get our beta from the industry average beta of globally comparable companies, with an imposed limit between 0.8 and 2.0, which is a reasonable range for a stable business.

Looking Ahead:

Although the valuation of a company is important, it is only one of many factors that you need to assess for a company. DCF models are not the be-all and end-all of investment valuation. Rather it should be seen as a guide to "what assumptions need to be true for this stock to be under/overvalued?" For example, changes in the company's cost of equity or the risk free rate can significantly impact the valuation. For Gem Diamonds, we've compiled three further aspects you should assess:

1. Risks: We feel that you should assess the 3 warning signs for Gem Diamonds (1 makes us a bit uncomfortable!) we've flagged before making an investment in the company.

2. Future Earnings: How does GEMD's growth rate compare to its peers and the wider market? Dig deeper into the analyst consensus number for the upcoming years by interacting with our free analyst growth expectation chart.

3. Other High Quality Alternatives: Do you like a good all-rounder? Explore our interactive list of high quality stocks to get an idea of what else is out there you may be missing!

PS. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the LSE every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks just search here.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

LONDON, July 28, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said "Government stimulus in response to ongoing COVID-19 pressures has driven strong demand for our products at a time of constrained supply resulting in a significant spike in most prices. We focused on safely running our world-class assets and supplying products to our customers. This enabled us, despite operational challenges, to deliver record financial results with free cash flow of $10.2 billion and underlying earnings of $12.2 billion, after taxes and government royalties of $7.3 billion. We are further strengthening the portfolio with our commitment to fund the high-quality Jadar lithium project, which signals our large-scale entry into the fast-growing battery materials market. We will pay an interim dividend of 561 US cents per share, representing 75% of underlying earnings.

"We are making progress on our four priorities, identifying opportunities for operational improvement, advancing our ESG agenda, taking important investment decisions and stepping up our external engagement. We are making real and lasting changes to the way we engage, interact and operate and are committed to ensuring that we have strong and positive relationships wherever we do business. We have identified what we need to do to make Rio Tinto a better company for the long term, with the right teams in place to unleash our full potential."

• Our colleague Nico Swart was tragically killed in a shooting incident whilst driving to work at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in South Africa on 24 May. Our sympathies are with Nico's family and we are offering ongoing support to his family, friends and colleagues.

• We continue to prioritise the safety of our people and communities and have now exceeded 30 months without a fatality on site. However, our all injury frequency rate (AIFR) of 0.39 has seen a slight increase versus 2020 first half (0.37).

• Our new leadership team is now fully in place and focused on driving forward our four priorities. We are developing a large volume of work taking a company-wide, bottom-up and people-centric approach as we look to embed real and sustainable changes to the way we operate and engage.

• In the first half, we sustained our efforts to earn back trust and strengthen our social licence. We continue rebuilding our relationships with Traditional Owners in the Pilbara and engaged extensively with government representatives, business leaders, current and former Rio Tinto employees and our shareholders. The insights from these meetings are helping us improve how we operate and effectively and respectfully engage in a collaborative manner wherever we operate.

• $13.7 billion net cash generated from operating activities was 143% higher than 2020 first half, mainly due to higher pricing for iron ore, aluminium and copper.

• $10.2 billion free cash flow² reflected the stronger operating cash flows partially offset by a 24% rise in capital expenditure¹ to $3.3 billion, driven by an increase in replacement and development capital as we ramp up our projects.

• Funding committed for the Jadar lithium-borates project in Serbia, subject to receiving all relevant approvals, permits and licences and ongoing engagement with local communities, the Government of Serbia and civil society: $2.4 billion investment, targeting first saleable production in 2026 and ramp-up to annual production of ~58,000 tonnes of battery-grade lithium carbonate in 2029.³

• $21.0 billion underlying EBITDA² was 118% higher than 2020 first half, with an underlying EBITDA margin² of 61%.

• $12.2 billion underlying earnings² (underlying EPS of 751.9 US cents) were 156% higher than 2020 first half with an underlying effective tax rate of 29%. Taking exclusions into account, net earnings of $12.3 billion (basic EPS of 761.0 US cents) mainly reflected $0.3 billion of exchange rate gains net of $0.1 billion of net additional closure costs for non-operating and fully impaired assets. See table on page 12.

• $3.1 billion of net cash² at 30 June 2021, compared with net debt² of $0.7 billion at the start of the year, which reflected the free cash flow of $10.2 billion partly offset by $6.4 billion of cash returns paid to shareholders.

• Cash returns of $9.1 billion announced today, comprising interim ordinary dividend of $6.1 billion, equivalent to 376 US cents per share, and special dividend of $3.0 billion, equivalent to 185 US cents per share. Interim pay-out ratio represents 75% of first half underlying earnings.

The H1 2021 interim results release is available here

1. Capital expenditure is presented gross, before taking into account any cash received from disposals of property, plant and equipment (PP&E).

2. This financial performance indicator is a non-GAAP alternative performance measure ("APM"). It is used internally by management to assess the liquidity and performance of the business and is therefore considered relevant to readers of this document. It is presented here to give more clarity around the underlying business performance of the Group’s operations. APMs are reconciled to directly comparable IFRS financial measures on pages 74 to 79.

3. These production targets were previously reported in a release to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) dated 10 December 2020, "Rio Tinto declares maiden Ore Reserve at Jadar". All material assumptions underpinning the production targets continue to apply and have not materially changed.

This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.

riotinto.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210727006252/en/

Contacts

Please direct all enquiries to
media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Media Relations, UK
Illtud Harri
M +44 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite
M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Americas
Matthew Klar
T +1 514 608 4429

Investor Relations, UK
Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978

Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877

Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom
T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Media Relations, Australia
Jonathan Rose
M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739

Jesse Riseborough
M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, Australia
Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia
T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

Category: General

Vancouver, British Columbia–(Newsfile Corp. – July 28, 2021) – Canterra Minerals Corporation (TSXV: CTM) (OTCQB: CTMCF) ("Canterra" or the "Company") is pleased to announce it has added 28km² to its central Newfoundland property position by staking the Carter Lake property. These additional 112 claims increases the size of the Company's land holdings along the Valentine Lake Shear Zone from 976 to 1,088 claims in 21 Mineral Exploration Licences, over 285km².

The staking initiative includes mineral rights in the areas adjacent to the Company's existing Wilding Gold Project ("Wilding Property") and Noel-Paul Projects. The Wilding Property lies approximately 10 km northeast of Marathon Gold's Valentine Lake Project in Central Newfoundland. Following recent exploration success, Canterra has confirmed the potential in the emerging Central Newfoundland Gold-District and has acted to secure the most prospective areas surrounding the Wilding Property.

Figure 1 – Location of newly staked claims

To view an enhanced version of Figure 1, please visit:
https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8054/91362_9462d2b4346d08a0_001full.jpg.

Highlights:

• Historic grab samples from float ranging from 5 ppb to 963 ppb Au

• Historic 500m gold-in-soil anomaly along southern margin of acquisition property

• Increases the land position by 112 claims (or 28km²) of highly prospective ground covering the Victoria Lake Shear Zone – Rogerson Structural Corridor which hosts the Valentine Lake deposits, Canterra's Wilding Lake Gold Project, TRU Precious Metals Twilight Gold Project, and Sokoman Minerals Corp. Moosehead Gold Project.

Carter Lake
The Carter Lake and adjoining Noel Paul properties are underlain by the same geological units as Canterra's Wilding Gold Project. This geology includes the Silurian Rogerson Lake Conglomerate that is known to host gold mineralization at Wilding and at the Marathon Gold Valentine Lake Deposit. Historically, the Carter Lake area has seen primarily base-metal focused exploration, carried out by Noranda Exploration ("Noranda"), with very limited gold exploration, the results of which were not adequately followed up or explained. The area has been recently logged resulting in greatly improved access. Current logging and road construction will significantly aid exploration efforts in this area. Initial reconnaissance work will be completed in conjunction with the 2021 field season and will include a soil and till sampling program with aims to identify, delineate and potentially drill test targets on the property.

Figure 2 – Canterra's updated property position in the Valentine Lake Shear Zone

To view an enhanced version of Figure 2, please visit:
https://orders.newsfilecorp.com/files/8054/91362_9462d2b4346d08a0_002full.jpg

In 2006, metre-scale angular quartz boulders were found adjacent to a new resource road in the Carter Lake area. Historic grab samples returned gold values of up to 963 ppb Au. The boulders were described as rusty and contained disseminated pyrite and trace base metals. No additional work was undertaken, and the boulders have not been sourced. Ice-movement in the Carter Lake area was to the northeast indicating a possible boulder source to the southwest. Noranda identified several northeast-trending pyritic zones and a 500m long gold-in-soil anomaly none of which have been adequately followed up. A historic diamond-drill hole (DDH4175-2) tested one of the pyritic zones and intersected 4.15 m of 30-40% pyrite containing trace base metals. None of the core was assayed for gold. Noranda drilled three short diamond-drill holes targeting potential base metal mineralization but did not intersect significant mineralization. It is believed that the core from these holes remained in the field and is presumed to have been lost.

Chris Pennimpede, CEO & President of Canterra, commented, "We are pleased to be announcing our staking of the Carter Lake claims which significantly expands Canterra's presence in one of the most prospective gold exploration regions in Newfoundland, adding more than 15km of strike length with evidence of gold mineralization."

About Canterra Minerals

Canterra is earning a 100% interest in the Wilding and Noel Paul Gold Projects, located 50km south, by logging road, from Millertown and directly northeast of Marathon Gold's Valentine Lake Gold Project in Central Newfoundland. The 285km² property package includes 50km of the northeastern strike-extension of the Rogerson Lake Structural Corridor, which hosts Marathon Gold's Valentine Lake deposits, Matador Mining's Cape Ray deposit, Sokoman's Moosehead discovery and TRU Precious Metals' Golden Rose and Twilight discoveries. A $2.75 million exploration program is underway, focusing on drilling and surface exploration on the Wilding Gold Project. This program will include additional diamond drilling on the existing zones and follow up trenching and diamond drilling on numerous targets identified from previous soil geochemistry sampling. Canterra's team has more than 100 years of experience searching for gold and diamonds in Canada and have been involved in the discovery of the Snap Lake diamond mine, in addition to the discovery of the Blackwater Gold deposit in British Columbia, Canada.

The scientific and technical information and exploration data quality assurance and control contained in this news release were prepared under the supervision of David Evans, M.Sc., P.Geo., Manager of Exploration for Canterra. Mr. Evans is a Qualified Person as defined by National Instrument ("NI") 43-101.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF CANTERRA MINERALS CORPORATION
Chris Pennimpede
President & CEO

Additional information about the Company is available at www.canterraminerals.com.
For further information, please contact: +1 (604) 687-6644
Email: info@canterraminerals.com

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains statements that constitute "forward-looking information" (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news release. Any statement that discusses predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans", "budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or "intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would", "might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking statements. Consequently, there can be no assurances that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Except to the extent required by applicable securities laws and the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange, the Company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements if management's beliefs, estimates or opinions, or other factors, should change. Factors that could cause future results to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements include risks associated possible accidents and other risks associated with mineral exploration operations, the risk that the Company will encounter unanticipated geological factors, the possibility that the Company may not be able to secure permitting and other governmental clearances necessary to carry out the Company's exploration plans, the risk that the Company will not be able to raise sufficient funds to carry out its business plans, and the risk of political uncertainties and regulatory or legal changes that might interfere with the Company's business and prospects.; the business and operations of the Company; unprecedented market and economic risks associated with current unprecedented market and economic circumstances due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as those risks and uncertainties identified and reported in the Company's public filings under its respective SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect actual results, whether as a result of new information, future events, changes in assumptions, changes in factors affecting such forward-looking statements or otherwise.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/91362.

Investors looking for stocks in the Mining – Miscellaneous sector might want to consider either Rio Tinto (RIO) or BHP (BHP). But which of these two stocks presents investors with the better value opportunity right now? Let's take a closer look.

We have found that the best way to discover great value opportunities is to pair a strong Zacks Rank with a great grade in the Value category of our Style Scores system. The Zacks Rank favors stocks with strong earnings estimate revision trends, and our Style Scores highlight companies with specific traits.

Right now, Rio Tinto is sporting a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy), while BHP has a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy). The Zacks Rank favors stocks that have recently seen positive revisions to their earnings estimates, so investors should rest assured that RIO has an improving earnings outlook. However, value investors will care about much more than just this.

Value investors are also interested in a number of tried-and-true valuation metrics that help show when a company is undervalued at its current share price levels.

The Value category of the Style Scores system identifies undervalued companies by looking at a number of key metrics. These include the long-favored P/E ratio, P/S ratio, earnings yield, cash flow per share, and a variety of other fundamentals that help us determine a company's fair value.

RIO currently has a forward P/E ratio of 5.33, while BHP has a forward P/E of 7.61. We also note that RIO has a PEG ratio of 1.25. This figure is similar to the commonly-used P/E ratio, with the PEG ratio also factoring in a company's expected earnings growth rate. BHP currently has a PEG ratio of 1.84.

Another notable valuation metric for RIO is its P/B ratio of 2.07. Investors use the P/B ratio to look at a stock's market value versus its book value, which is defined as total assets minus total liabilities. By comparison, BHP has a P/B of 2.43.

These are just a few of the metrics contributing to RIO's Value grade of B and BHP's Value grade of C.

RIO has seen stronger estimate revision activity and sports more attractive valuation metrics than BHP, so it seems like value investors will conclude that RIO is the superior option right now.

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LONDON, July 27, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto has committed $2.4 billion to the Jadar lithium-borates project in Serbia, one of the world’s largest greenfield lithium projects. The project remains subject to receiving all relevant approvals, permits and licences and ongoing engagement with local communities, the Government of Serbia and civil society.

The Jadar project would scale up Rio Tinto’s exposure to battery materials, and demonstrate the company’s commitment to investing capital in a disciplined manner to further strengthen its portfolio for the global energy transition.

Jadar will produce battery-grade lithium carbonate, a critical mineral used in large scale batteries for electric vehicles and storing renewable energy, and position Rio Tinto as the largest source of lithium supply in Europe for at least the next 15 years. In addition, Jadar will produce borates, which are used in solar panels and wind turbines.

Jadar will be one of the largest industrial investments in Serbia, contributing 1% directly and 4% indirectly to GDP, with many Serbian suppliers involved in the construction of the mine. Rio Tinto is committed to help develop local businesses so that they can support the operation over the coming decades. It will also be a significant employer, creating 2,100 jobs during construction and 1,000 mining and processing jobs once in production.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said "We have great confidence in the Jadar project and are ready to invest, subject to approvals. Serbia and Rio Tinto will be well-positioned to capture the opportunity offered by rising demand for lithium, driven by the global energy transition and the project will strengthen our offering, particularly to the European market. It could supply enough lithium to power over one million electric vehicles per year¹.

"The Jadar deposit and its unique mineral, Jadarite, discovered by Rio Tinto geologists in 2004 contains high-grade mineralisation of boron and lithium, supporting a long-life operation in the first quartile of the cost curve for both products."

"We are committed to upholding the highest environmental standards and building sustainable futures for the communities where we operate. We recognise that in progressing this project, we must listen to and respect the views of all stakeholders."

Rio Tinto continues to work with a wide group of local and global experts across all aspects of the environmental, social and governance impacts and has done so for many years. For example, to date we have finalised 12 environmental studies and more than 23,000 biological, physical and chemical analyses of air and water. This consultation is ongoing and will continue to inform our final submissions for approval.

The Jadar development will include an underground mine with associated infrastructure and equipment, including electric haul trucks, as well as a beneficiation chemical processing plant. To minimise the impact to communities, it will be built to the highest environmental standards, including utilising dry stacking of tailings. This innovative method allows the dry tailings to be progressively reclaimed with vegetation and soil with no need for a tailings dam. Water management will be state of the art with a dedicated facility resulting in approximately 70% of raw water coming from recycled sources or treated mine water.

First saleable production is expected in 2026 at a time of strong market fundamentals with lithium demand forecast to grow 25-35% per annum over the next decade. Following ramp up to full production in 2029, the mine will produce ~58,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate, 160,000 tonnes of boric acid (B₂O₃ units) and 255,000 tonnes of sodium sulphate² annually, making Rio Tinto one of the top ten lithium producers in the world. Based on this annual production of lithium carbonate, Rio Tinto aims to produce 2.3 million tonnes of lithium carbonate over the expected 40-year life of mine.

The next steps for the project are seeking an exploitation licence and receipt of regulatory approvals. This includes approval of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) studies, which will shortly be made available to the public for comment. The EIA is required for the commencement of works, with construction targeted to start in 2022.

¹ Assuming 60kWh battery size

² These production targets were previously reported in a release to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) dated 10 December 2020, "Rio Tinto declares maiden Ore Reserve at Jadar" (for battery-grade lithium carbonate it was 55,000 tonnes). All material assumptions underpinning the production targets continue to apply and have not materially changed.

This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.

riotinto.com

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M +61 436 653 412

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M: +44 7825 195 178

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M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto plc

6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
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T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
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Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia

T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

Category: Jadar

(Bloomberg) — Rio Tinto Group plans to spend $2.4 billion building a lithium mine in Serbia, in the latest sign that the biggest miners are pushing into metals poised to benefit from the green-energy transition.

The biggest producers are churning out record profits after commodities rallied this year, raising the question of what the industry will do with all the extra cash. Most have been focused on returning money to shareholders through dividends and buybacks — analysts are expecting more big payouts in the coming weeks, including from Rio itself when the world’s second-biggest miner reports financial results on Wednesday.

But there are also signs that the industry is increasingly keen to invest more in growing production of key “future facing” commodities like battery metals or fertilizer. Rio’s announcement marks the first big move by a mining major into lithium, which is used in rechargeable batteries.

Earlier Tuesday, larger rival BHP Group announced plans to buy the owner of a Canadian nickel project — another vital component of the types of batteries that power electric cars or back up renewable energy. Rio in May acquired a stake in a Canadian copper project, while BHP has been building a holding in a company planning to develop a giant copper mine in Ecuador, and is expected to sanction a giant potash project as soon as next month.

It also comes at a time when the biggest miners are looking to shift away from fossil fuels, increasingly shunned by investors. Rio sold its last coal mine in 2019 and is the only major miner to be fossil-fuel free. And its peers are slowly following. Anglo American Plc has agreed to sell its last thermal coal mines, while BHP is in the process of exiting thermal coal and is considering getting out of oil and gas.

Rio has been working on the Jadar project in Serbia for years, and had been expected to make an investment decision this year. The mine will help the company diversify away from iron ore, which dominates its earnings, and will allow it to produce lithium close to the key German carmaking industry.

Rio said on Tuesday that the project is expected to start operating in 2026 and hit full-production in 2029. The investment, which still depends on getting the necessary approvals in Serbia, would make the company a top-10 lithium producer.

Still, there may be obstacles. The Serbian government has promised voters it will hold a referendum on the project, while touting its benefit as a huge growth driver for the Serbian economy. Serbian authorities are opposed to exporting lithium carbonate as raw material for batteries and want to see local production of lithium-based batteries, possibly even electric-vehicles.

“The Jadar project would scale up Rio Tinto’s exposure to battery materials, and demonstrate the company’s commitment to investing capital in a disciplined manner to further strengthen its portfolio for the global energy transition,” Rio said in a statement Tuesday.

(Updates with details throughout)

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(Bloomberg) — Rio Tinto Plc workers went on strike over labor contracts at an aluminum smelter in British Columbia on Sunday, their union said in a statement.

About 900 Rio Tinto workers at smelting facilities in Kitimat were on strike as of 12:01 a.m. local time Sunday, Unifor said in a release posted on the union’s website. The union accused the company of violating existing contracts by using contractors and temporary employees and failing to address concerns over pensions and retiree benefits.

“Our union is fully prepared to defend our members’ rights and protect good jobs in Kitimat now and in the future,” Jerry Dias, Unifor’s national president, said in the release.

Staff and employees required under an order by the B.C. Labour Relations Board have taken on duties to continue operations, Simon Letendre, a Rio Tinto spokesman, said in an email. The company is assessing how the strike will affect aluminum production and will work to limit disruptions. The strike commenced after the current collective labor agreement expired, he said.

“Rio Tinto has made every effort to reach a mutually beneficial agreement through negotiating in good faith with Unifor Local 2301 over the past seven weeks, and will continue to do so,” Letendre said. “Regrettably, the union refused the company’s proposal to request the intervention of a mediator.”

The Canadian smelter has been in operation since 1954 and produced 329,000 metric tons of aluminum in 2020, according to the company website.

(Adds company comments in fourth, fifth paragraphs)

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(Bloomberg) — The world’s biggest mining companies are about to start revealing how much cash they’re churning out from this year’s commodity boom. Look out for record profits followed by eye-watering dividend payouts.

The top-five western diversified miners may have earned a combined $85 billion for the first half of the year, according to analyst estimates, more than double the level from a year ago. Rio Tinto Group, the first to report on Wednesday, is expected to announce $22 billion of profit for the six months, on a par with its total for all of 2020.

The mining sector has been one of the biggest beneficiaries from the world’s efforts to emerge from the pandemic. The trillions of dollars poured into recovery packages have ignited demand for commodities like steel, iron ore and aluminum, driving prices sharply higher and sending inflation pressures rippling through the global economy.

Read more: Record Metals Prices Catapult Mining Profits Beyond Big Oil

And while previous rallies lured the industry into ambitious investment plans to build and expand mines, many producers this time appear content to return their profit windfalls to investors. The two biggest — Rio and larger rival BHP Group — have already been funneling record returns to shareholders.

Each of the group of five majors — which also includes Glencore Plc, Anglo American Plc and Vale SA — are expected to report their biggest-ever earnings for the six months through June, according to average analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Rio could pay out 60% of its underlying earnings, according to some analyst estimates.

“This should be a pretty much stellar set of results all round,” said Ben Davis, an analyst at Liberum Capital. “We’re expecting record dividends from BHP and Rio, while Anglo and Glencore also have the potential to surprise.”

Iron ore has been a big driver of profit for the largest producers. The world’s biggest commodity after oil hit a record in the first-half, and has spent the last three months hovering around $200 a ton, a level not seen in a decade. Steel and copper prices both set fresh records this year, thermal coal has also soared, and even diamonds have had a resurgence.

Some prices have retreated recently amid concerns about rising Covid-19 cases and as China moves to curb rising costs. Yet commodity prices across the board remain historically high for now.

U.S. copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc. gave a hint of what to expect when it reported last week. The company has wiped out $5 billion of debt in the last 12 months, hitting its target months ahead of schedule, and setting the stage for an increase in shareholder returns.

Anglo American Platinum Ltd. added to that on Monday. The company, 79% owned by Anglo American, paid out a record dividend of $3.1 billion that equates to 100% of first-half headline earnings.

For the iron ore miners such as Vale, BHP and Rio, it promises to be even better. Demand for the steelmaking ingredient, especially from China, is rampant and supply is constrained. China, which accounts for about half of global steel production, is making a record amount of the metal, while iron ore supply has never recovered from two dam disasters in Brazil.

Of course, the mining companies are not immune to inflation themselves — iron ore operations in Australia are grappling with a sharp rise in labor costs due to worker shortages. And governments in resource-rich countries, especially in Latin America, are also looking at the industry as a source of extra revenue after the commodities rally.

For now though, the miners are cashing in.

(Updates with Anglo American Platinum dividend in 10th paragraph.)

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FORT DAUPHIN, Madagascar, July 26, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto has signed a power purchasing agreement for a new renewable energy plant to power the operations of its QMM ilmenite mine in Fort Dauphin, Southern Madagascar.

This project, which uses solar and wind energy, will significantly contribute towards Rio Tinto’s operations in Madagascar achieving its carbon neutral objective by 2023. The project is part of a broader initiative to reduce the ilmenite mine’s environmental footprint which includes programmes that focus on emissions reduction, waste and water management, carbon sequestration, ecological restoration and reforestation.

The renewable energy plant, to be built, owned and operated by independent power producer, CrossBoundary Energy (CBE), over a 20-year period, will consist of an 8 MW solar facility and a 12 MW wind energy facility to power mining and processing operations. There will also be a lithium-ion battery energy storage system of up to 8.25 MW as reserve capacity to ensure a stable and reliable network.

It will supply all of QMM’s electricity demand during peak generation times, and up to 60 percent of the operations’ annual electricity consumption. QMM will replace the majority of the power it currently supplies to the town of Fort Dauphin and the community of around 80,000 people with renewables.

The renewable energy plant will comprise more than 18,000 solar panels and up to nine wind turbines located in the Port Ehoala Park area. Construction is expected to begin this year with the solar plant scheduled to start operations at the beginning 2022. The wind power plant is planned to commence construction early 2022 and become operational by the end of 2022.

QMM President Ny Fanja Rakotomalala said: "This project is a strong example of our commitment with the Government of Madagascar to the sustainable development of the region. On a sunny and windy day, all the electricity needed by QMM and the Fort Dauphin community will be generated by the Malagasy sun and wind. It is a major step forward on our journey towards a truly sustainable mine, that protects and promotes the uniqueness of Madagascar’s environment and benefits the community with reliable and clean electricity."

Secretary General, Ministry of Energy and Hydrocarbons of the Republic of Madagascar, Andriatongarivo Tojonirina Andrisoa, said: "The Government of Madagascar is committed to the energy transition and to setting up Madagascar to be energy independent, as stated in the President’s Initiative pour l’Emergence de Madagascar (IEM). QMM’s renewable energy project, technically ambitious with two installations dedicated to solar and wind, is fully aligned with that vision. It makes Madagascar a global reference point for the use of renewable energy to supply clean, reliable power in the mining sector and other industries, and to the community."

Rio Tinto Minerals Chief Executive Sinead Kaufman said: "With this flagship project, QMM is leading the way at Rio Tinto and in Madagascar in utilizing renewable energy to power mining operations and reduce carbon emissions."

CrossBoundary Energy Co-founder and Managing Partner Matt Tilleard commented: "Emissions from electricity use in mining is estimated to account for around 1% of all greenhouse gases globally. Rio Tinto is leading the way in demonstrating how mines can seize a huge opportunity to reduce these emissions. We are focused on delivering cleaner power to businesses and were therefore able to offer Rio Tinto a flexible, fast, all-equity funding approach, combined with our reliable track record as one of Africa’s largest distributed renewable utilities."

About QIT Madagascar Minerals

QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM), is a joint venture between Rio Tinto (80%) and the government of Madagascar (20%). It is located near Fort Dauphin in the Anosy region of south-eastern Madagascar, and primarily produces ilmenite which is a major source of titanium dioxide, predominantly used as a white pigment in products such as paints and paper.

QMM also produces zirsill used in the manufacturing ceramic tiles and digital screens, and monazite, a rare earth element, used in renewable energy technologies like high-powered permanent magnets used in wind turbines and electric vehicles.

QMM includes the deep-water Port d’Ehoala, where the raw material is shipped to the Rio Tinto Fer et Titane plant in Canada and processed into titanium dioxide.

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Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178

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Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877

Media Relations, Australia
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Jesse Riseborough
M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, Australia
Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom
T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia
T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

riotinto.com

Category: QMM

(Adds background, details from release)

July 26 (Reuters) – Miner Rio Tinto said on Monday it planned to cut production at its BC Works aluminium smelter in Kitimat, Canada to 35% following a strike initiated by the Canadian union Unifor after negotiation talks failed.

Unifor said on Sunday about 900 workers had started strike action at the miner's operations in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, after nearly seven weeks of unproductive talks over proposed changes to workers' retirement benefits and unresolved grievances.

Rio Tinto employs about 1,050 people at the BC Works smelter and Kemano powerhouse, of which the union represents about 900 workers.

The miner, which has been granted an essential services order by the British Columbia Labour Relations Board, said a reduced workforce is also in place to ensure the Kemano hydro-power facility continues to run. [https://refini.tv/2Wf54r0 ] (Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

MONTREAL, July 26, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto has begun reducing production at its BC Works aluminium smelter in Kitimat, Canada due to a strike initiated by the Unifor Local 2301 union after negotiations failed to reach a new collective labour agreement.

Production will be reduced to around 35 per cent of the smelter’s 432,000 tonne annual capacity, so that it can safely be operated by staff and employees required under an essential services order granted by the BC Labour Relations Board.

Rio Tinto Aluminium managing director Atlantic Operations Samir Cairae said: "Reducing production will have a significant impact on the business and community, but we are committed to taking the necessary steps to operate safely with a reduced workforce.

"We have made every effort to reach a mutually beneficial agreement through negotiating in good faith over the past seven weeks, including proposing an independent mediator which was rejected by Unifor Local 2301.

"We will continue to look for longer term solutions with the union and work closely with customers and suppliers to minimise disruptions."

A reduced workforce is also in place to ensure the Kemano hydro-power facility continues to run safely.

Rio Tinto employs approximately 1,050 people at the BC Works smelter and Kemano powerhouse, including around 900 employees represented by Unifor Local 2301. The company contributed C$780 million to the economy of British Columbia in 2020.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210726005751/en/

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Jonathan Rose
M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739

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M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, UK
Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978

Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877

Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom

T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Investor Relations, Australia
Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia

T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

riotinto.com

Category: BC Works

(Bloomberg) — The world’s biggest mining companies are about to start revealing how much cash they’re churning out from this year’s commodity boom. Look out for record profits followed by eye-watering dividend payouts.

The top-five western diversified miners may have earned a combined $85 billion for the first half of the year, according to analyst estimates, more than double the level from a year ago. Rio Tinto Group, the first to report on Wednesday, is expected to announce $22 billion of profit for the six months, on a par with its total for all of 2020.

The mining sector has been one of the biggest beneficiaries from the world’s efforts to emerge from the pandemic. The trillions of dollars poured into recovery packages have ignited demand for commodities like steel, iron ore and aluminum, driving prices sharply higher and sending inflation pressures rippling through the global economy.

Read more: Record Metals Prices Catapult Mining Profits Beyond Big Oil

And while previous rallies lured the industry into ambitious investment plans to build and expand mines, many producers this time appear content to return their profit windfalls to investors. The two biggest — Rio and larger rival BHP Group — have already been funneling record returns to shareholders.

Each of the group of five majors — which also includes Glencore Plc, Anglo American Plc and Vale SA — are expected to report their biggest-ever earnings for the six months through June, according to average analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Rio could pay out 60% of its underlying earnings, according to some analyst estimates.

“This should be a pretty much stellar set of results all round,” said Ben Davis, an analyst at Liberum Capital. “We’re expecting record dividends from BHP and Rio, while Anglo and Glencore also have the potential to surprise.”

Iron ore has been a big driver of profit for the largest producers. The world’s biggest commodity after oil hit a record in the first-half, and has spent the last three months hovering around $200 a ton, a level not seen in a decade. Steel and copper prices both set fresh records this year, thermal coal has also soared, and even diamonds have had a resurgence.

Some prices have retreated recently amid concerns about rising Covid-19 cases and as China moves to curb rising costs. Yet commodity prices across the board remain historically high for now.

U.S. copper miner Freeport-McMoRan Inc. gave a hint of what to expect when it reported last week. The company has wiped out $5 billion of debt in the last 12 months, hitting its target months ahead of schedule, and setting the stage for an increase in shareholder returns.

For the iron ore miners such as Vale, BHP and Rio, it promises to be even better. Demand for the steelmaking ingredient, especially from China, is rampant and supply is constrained. China, which accounts for about half of global steel production, is making a record amount of the metal, while iron ore supply has never recovered from two dam disasters in Brazil.

Of course, the mining companies are not immune to inflation themselves — iron ore operations in Australia are grappling with a sharp rise in labor costs due to worker shortages. And governments in resource-rich countries, especially in Latin America, are also looking at the industry as a source of extra revenue after the commodities rally.

For now though, the miners are cashing in.

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(Reuters) -Canadian union Unifor said on Sunday about 900 workers had started strike action at global miner Rio Tinto's operations in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.

Unifor issued a 72-hour strike notice on Wednesday after nearly seven weeks of unproductive talks over proposed changes to workers' retirement benefits and unresolved grievances.

In an emailed statement to Reuters, a spokesperson for the miner said that the union refused the company’s proposal to request the intervention of a mediator.

"Rio Tinto has made every effort to reach a mutually beneficial agreement through negotiating with Unifor over the past seven weeks, and will continue to do so," the company said in the statement.

The union represents about 900 workers at the miner's aluminium smelting plant in Kitimat and power generating facility in Kemano.

"Rio Tinto was given every opportunity to reach a fair deal but showed complete disregard for our issues," the union said in a statement.

Unifor said it was committed to resolving the labour dispute amicably and urged the company's management to reach a fair settlement.

The company said that required staff and employees are now taking on operational duties to ensure the smelter and powerhouse continue to function safely. Rio had earlier sought an order from the province's labour relations board declaring power plant workers essential, according to a union bulletin.

(Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru and Jeff Lewis in Toronto; Additional reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Vishal Vivek in BengaluruEditing by Mark Potter and Grant McCool)

(Adds statement from Rio Tinto)

July 25 (Reuters) – Canadian union Unifor said on Sunday about 900 workers had started strike action at global miner Rio Tinto's operations in the western Canadian province of British Columbia.

Unifor issued a 72-hour strike notice on Wednesday after nearly seven weeks of unproductive talks over proposed changes to workers' retirement benefits and unresolved grievances.

In an emailed statement to Reuters, a spokesperson for the miner said that the union refused the company’s proposal to request the intervention of a mediator.

"Rio Tinto has made every effort to reach a mutually beneficial agreement through negotiating with Unifor over the past seven weeks, and will continue to do so," the company said in the statement.

The union represents about 900 workers at the miner's aluminium smelting plant in Kitimat and power generating facility in Kemano.

"Rio Tinto was given every opportunity to reach a fair deal but showed complete disregard for our issues," the union said in a statement.

Unifor said it was committed to resolving the labour dispute amicably and urged the company's management to reach a fair settlement.

The company said that required staff and employees are now taking on operational duties to ensure the smelter and powerhouse continue to function safely.

Rio had earlier sought an order from the province's labour relations board declaring power plant workers essential, according to a union bulletin. (Reporting by Rithika Krishna in Bengaluru and Jeff Lewis in Toronto; Additional reporting by Radhika Anilkumar and Vishal Vivek in Bengaluru Editing by Mark Potter and Grant McCool)

UK dividends staged a dramatic recovery in the second quarter of the year, jumping 51.2% on a headline basis to £25.7bn ($35.3bn), new data has shown.

According to the latest UK dividend monitor from Link Group (LNK.AX), dividends beat initial forecasts, with payouts excluding special dividends at £24.3bn, up 43.8%. However, this was still one sixth lower than their pre-crisis average, highlighting the long road to full recovery.

The main driver was companies restarting dividends; around 90% of the year-on-year increase came from firms that had cancelled dividends in Q2 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19.

The bounce-back was fastest among mid-cap firms, reflecting the greater decline they suffered last year.

Almost every sector saw payouts rise year-on-year, however, the report showed that the three biggest dividend-paying sectors were mining, banking and oil.

Of the £8.7bn recovery in UK plc Q2 dividends year-on-year, the first two of these industries accounted for over two thirds of the increase, but the oil sector acted as a brake on the recovery.

Mining dividends made up a quarter of the second quarter total at £6.3bn, boosted by Rio Tinto (RIO). In the banking sector, HSBC (HSBA.L) was the biggest contributor, despite being under Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) constraints during the period after a ban altogether in 2020.

The PRA is the organisation within the Bank of England (BoE) responsible for oversight of the sector.

Read more: Banks forced to axe dividends and may cut bonuses over COVID-19 crisis

Elsewhere, BAE Systems (BA.L) was also among a significant number of companies which returned to their usual schedule of paying a second-quarter dividend, having paid late in 2020.

Link Group said the biggest contribution to the upside surprise came from industrials, financials and basic materials, accounting for almost a third each.

It now expects headline dividend growth of 24.4% to a new total of £79.5bn this year, while underlying dividends are set to rise by 13.4% to £71.2bn. This is 3.9 percentage points, or £2.7bn, more than its April forecast.

The Australian-based IT service management firm said “the upside tailwinds will get less favourable from here” but that it expects banking dividends to “rebound now that regulatory limits have been scrapped.”

Read more: FTSE 100 dividends set to fall 20% in 2020

However this will not immediately bounce back to pre-pandemic levels as share buybacks will also feature.

“We have regularly cautioned over the last year that dividend patterns will be very noisy as we move through the recovery phase. This will make for choppy waters in the months ahead, but it does not mean we are pessimistic,” Ian Stokes, managing director, corporate markets UK and Europe, at Link Group said.

“All the indicators of economic growth look very encouraging, and companies have come out of the crisis in most cases with their balance sheets looking strong. Resurgent profits and healthy bank balances mean more dividends for shareholders. These wider trends also help explain why the regulator has lifted the embargo on dividends from capital-rich banks.”

Watch: Dividends and buybacks back on track

(Bloomberg) — South African stocks advanced for a fourth consecutive session, the longest winning streak since June 2, joining gains in global peers amid earnings optimism that helped Wall Street edge toward an all-time high despite mixed economic data. Telkom SA SOC Ltd. dragged on the market on news its chief executive officer will step down.

The FTSE/JSE Africa All Share Index was up 0.7% by 9:35 a.m. in Johannesburg, trading at its highest level in more than a week, as a broad rally led by miners and banks countered losses in index giant Naspers Ltd. as well as telecommunications providers.

Friday’s gains set the index on track for a fifth consecutive weekly advance, the longest winning streak since May 2020. The index is 2% higher since Monday, its best weekly performance since May 7.

“Local equities in are positive territory, having taken their lead from stronger global markets, which have risen on the back of corporate earnings, among other factors,” said Lester Davids, a strategist at Unum Capital. “Stock leadership appears to be broad-based with Sasol, MTN and Anglo American among the biggest gainers so far in the session.”

The gains come after the South African Reserve Bank left interest rates unchanged at 3.5% and signaled a more dovish policy path.

South Africa Turns Less Hawkish on Key Rate After Riots

“Our house view is dovish; SARB to begin hiking rates in mid-2022,” Matete Thulare, an analyst at Rand Merchant Bank, said in a client note.

Global stocks are on course for a modest weekly gain, bolstered by robust corporate profits and stimulus support. At the same time, July’s decline in 10-year U.S. Treasury yields may signal concern over a possible peak in economic growth, in part as the delta coronavirus strain curbs mobility in some nations.

Anglo American Plc and BHP Group Plc led the index for industrial miners up 1.1%, providing the biggest boost to the index.Anglo American +1.5%, BHP +0.9%, Glencore Plc +1%, African Rainbow Minerals Ltd. +1%Luxury goods retailer and popular rand hedge Richemont advanced 0.7% as the South African currency slides.Precious-metals miners rise for a fourth day, up 1% to a one-week high as gold and palladium prices advanced.NOTE: Gold Steadies on ECB’s Support Pledge, Mixed U.S. Economic DataImpala Platinum Holdings Ltd. +1.3%, Sibanye Stillwater Ltd. +0.9%, AngloGold Ltd. +0.8%, Gold Fields Ltd. +0.7%, Northam Platinum Ltd. +1%, Harmony Gold Mining Co. +1%, Anglo American Platinum Ltd. +0.3%, Royal Bafokeng Platinum Ltd. +1%, Pan African Resources Plc +0.9%Bank stocks extends gains for a fourth day, the longest winning streak since June 2. the sub-index is up 1% as market cheers decision to keep benchmark rate unchanged.FirstRand Ltd. +0.7%, Standard Bank Group Ltd. +0.9%, Absa Group Ltd. +1.5%, Capitec Bank Holdings Ltd. +1.1%, Nedbank Group Ltd. +1.4%, Investec Plc +1.7%Naspers, with a 15% weighting on the index, falls for the first day in three, down 0.4% to provide the biggest drag to the index. Weakness comes as partly owned online gaming giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. retreats in Hong Kong. Naspers holds a 29% stake in Tencent through its subsidiary Prosus NV, which retreated 0.3%NOTE: China’s Tech Crackdown Is Buying Opportunity, Loop Capital SaysTelkom drops 3.1%, dragging the index for telecommunication providers lower, after CEO Sipho Maseko says he is stepping down after more than eight years at the helm of South Africa’s biggest fixed-line operator.NOTE: Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko to Leave Top JobBlue Label Telecoms Ltd. -1.7%Peers MTN Group +1.8%, MultiChoice Group +0.7%, Vodacom Group Ltd. +0.1%Foreign investors remained net sellers of South African stocks for a fourth day Thursday, disposing of 962 million rand ($65 million) of equities, according to data from exchange operator JSE Ltd.

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London stocks were set to scrape out a gain out for the week, helped by miners and Vodafone, as investors sifted through a mixed set of economic data on Friday. “While there are questions around high-street retail demand despite government steps to reopen the economy, the saving grace appears to have come from football fans who drove up alcohol and food sales for the euro 2020 tournament,” said Joshua Mahony, senior market analyst at IG, in a note to clients. “July saw the U.K. economy’s recent growth spurt stifled by the rising wave of virus infections, which subdued customer demand, disrupted supply chains and caused widespread staff shortages, and cast a darkening shadow over the outlook,” said Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit, in a press release.

Almost the first words in Rio Tinto’s 2020 annual report, published in February, were these from its chairman, Simon Thompson: “Our strong performance in many areas during 2020 was overshadowed by the destruction of two ancient rock shelters in the Juukan Gorge [in Australia].

“I reiterate our unreserved apology to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people for the destruction. We are committed to learning the lessons from Juukan Gorge to ensure that the destruction of a site of such exceptional cultural significance never happens again.”

Rio has offered more than words: it has scrapped plans to mine at several culturally sensitive sites and replaced its previous chief executive, Jean-Sébastien Jacques, with Jakob Stausholm, whose “collaborative leadership style, strong values and personal commitment to the role of business in promoting sustainability made him the ideal choice to lead us”.

Rio’s board has engaged with groups that represent Australia’s indigenous people, including a visit to Juukan Gorge by Thompson in the company of indigenous elders. It has also appointed an indigenous community leader to consult with traditional owners of the lands on which it mines on the formation of an indigenous group to advise the board and senior managers.

It’s fair to say then that the FTSE 100 company’s response to the Juukan Gorge public relations disaster (which was far from its first) went beyond paying lip service to the need for change. In an era of unprecedented investor attention to environmental, social and governance issues, however, Rio could hardly have done less.

Miners need periodic access to capital, and the pool of investors inclined to hand it to them was fast dwindling anyway. Juukan Gorge will hardly have helped.

Let’s turn to the other aspect of the chairman’s statement: Rio Tinto’s “strong performance” in 2020.

It was no exaggeration. It made pre-tax profits of $15.4bn (£11.2bn) and cut its debts to a negligible $664m. The dividend was raised by 26pc to $5.57, which included a 93 cent special.

Why did it have such a good year? Thanks to the price of iron ore. Rio likes to present itself as a diversified miner but iron ore dominates its operations and its profit and loss account. In 2020 the ore generated $18.8bn in profits on the “underlying Ebitda” measure, while aluminium managed just $2.2bn and copper and diamonds between them the same figure. Energy and minerals accounted for $1.6bn.

As those profits suggest, this is a great time to be digging up iron ore. Its price rose by almost 85pc last year and the reason is not hard to find: China accounts for a huge percentage of the world’s steel production and its consumption of the alloy grew by 9pc last year.

“Iron ore is at a fantastic price for the miners – it is dream time for them,” the manager of a natural resources fund told Questor. He said it was “boom time” in Western Australia – “all the mines are flat out, there is no labour availability, labour cost inflation is horrific”.

Despite this, Rio’s shares don’t look expensive. They have risen along with the iron ore price but yield a tempting 6.9pc if we include the special dividend. The free cash flow yield is in double figures.

Why? “The iron ore price is very high but the market doesn’t think this will continue. It’s literally as simple as that,” another resources investor said. “China accounts for the vast majority of demand and the Chinese are stimulating that side of their economy. No one knows when it will end – it’s a punt.”

Put another way, Rio’s share price ultimately depends on how many roads, airports and bridges the Chinese politburo decides to build. As if this were not already hard enough to predict, those decisions in turn depend on whether the Communist Party favours pursuing economic growth by promoting exports and infrastructure spending, the traditional route, or by encouraging consumer consumption. It has swung between the two in the past and may easily do so again.

Why would you tie your investment returns to the decisions of politicians in a country on the other side of the world, especially when you have little insight into how those decisions are made? Buying shares in Rio Tinto is a gamble pure and simple. Avoid.

Questor says: avoid

Ticker: RIO

Share price at close: £59.26

Read the latest Questor column on telegraph.co.uk every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 5am.

Read Questor’s rules of investment before you follow our tips.

TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian union Unifor said on Wednesday miner Rio Tinto has been served with a 72-hour strike notice after nearly seven weeks of unproductive negotiations over proposed changes to workers' retirement income and benefit levels.

The union said it is seeking better retirement security for younger workers by moving newer employees from the company's Defined Contribution plan to a Defined Benefit plan.

"Rio Tinto is committed to working with the union to reach a mutually beneficial outcome to the ongoing bargaining process," a Rio spokesperson told Reuters.

Negotiations are also focused on a backlog of more than 300 grievances and the company's refusal to hire full-time workers leading to an overreliance on temporary employees, Unifor said.

Unifor says it represents about 900 workers at the company's aluminum smelting plant in Kitimat and power generating facility in Kemano.

(Reporting by Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru and Jeff Lewis in Toronto; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

(Adds Rio Tinto comment)

TORONTO, July 21 (Reuters) – Canadian union Unifor said on Wednesday miner Rio Tinto has been served with a 72-hour strike notice after nearly seven weeks of unproductive negotiations over proposed changes to workers' retirement income and benefit levels.

The union said it is seeking better retirement security for younger workers by moving newer employees from the company's Defined Contribution plan to a Defined Benefit plan.

"Rio Tinto is committed to working with the union to reach a mutually beneficial outcome to the ongoing bargaining process," a Rio spokesperson told Reuters.

Negotiations are also focused on a backlog of more than 300 grievances and the company's refusal to hire full-time workers leading to an overreliance on temporary employees, Unifor said.

Unifor says it represents about 900 workers at the company's aluminum smelting plant in Kitimat and power generating facility in Kemano. (Reporting by Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru and Jeff Lewis in Toronto; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

LONDON, July 22, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto has approved a $108 million investment in underground development to enable early orebody access and undertake orebody characterisation studies for underground mining at the Kennecott copper operations in the United States.

The investment builds on $25 million approved in early-2020 to complete a pre-feasibility study to determine the viability of underground mining operations at Kennecott. Potential underground mining would occur concurrently with open pit operations and result in increased copper output.

Kennecott holds the potential for a significant and attractive underground development, with declared Mineral Resources of 20 Mt at 3.65% copper and 1.62 g/t gold¹ with further upside potential based on drilling.

The feasibility study work will focus on gathering critical geological, geotechnical and hydrogeological data to inform Rio Tinto’s assessment of underground development options and is expected to be completed in 2024. Existing infrastructure from previous underground projects will be extended to access the North Rim Skarn orebody, allowing for the development of crosscuts and further drilling of the resource. The project includes approximately 15,000 feet (4,500 metres) of lateral development, 1,000 feet (300 metres) of vertical development and associated support infrastructure.

The project will also include the trial of underground battery electric vehicles to reduce carbon emissions at Kennecott and across Rio Tinto’s global operations. Sandvik Mining and Rock Solutions will supply a battery electric haul truck and loader to evaluate performance and suitability for future underground mining fleets.

Pre-feasibility studies are also being progressed to extend open pit mining at Kennecott beyond 2032, with a further push back of the North Wall to allow access to Mineral Resources. This follows a $1.5 billion investment in the second phase of the South Wall Pushback project, approved in 2019, to allow open cut mining to continue between 2026 and 2032.

Rio Tinto Copper Chief Executive Bold Baatar said: "Kennecott holds a range of options to extend our supply of copper and other critical materials, to meet the strong demand being driven by electric vehicles and renewable power technologies.

"The operation is uniquely positioned to supply these emerging markets, with one of only two operating smelters in the United States that also processes concentrates from third parties, a long history delivering high quality products and significant resources that are yet to be developed."

¹ This underground Mineral Resource estimate (North Rim Skarn) was included in Rio Tinto’s 2020 Annual Report released to the ASX on 22 February 2021 which is available at https://www.riotinto.com/invest/reports/annual-report. The Competent Person responsible for this Mineral Resource estimate was Ryan Hayes (AusIMM). Rio Tinto is not aware of any new information or data that materially affects this Mineral Resource estimate and confirms that all material assumptions and technical parameters underpinning this Mineral Resource estimate continue to apply and have not materially changed. The form and context in which the Competent Person’s findings are presented have not been materially modified from the 2020 Annual Report.

Notes to Editors

Kennecott operates an advanced copper and precious metals smelter, processing concentrate from Kennecott and third parties.

In addition to copper, Kennecott is one of the largest producers of gold, silver, and molybdenum in North America. Construction is underway on a plant to recover tellurium, a critical mineral used in solar panels, from copper refining at Kennecott. Rio Tinto is working with experts from the US Department of Energy’s Critical Materials Institute (CMI) on ways to extract further critical minerals from the existing refining and smelting processes.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210722005163/en/

Contacts

Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Media Relations, UK
Illtud Harri
M +44 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite
M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Americas
Matthew Klar
T +1 514 608 4429

Investor Relations, UK
Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978

Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877

Media Relations, Australia
Jonathan Rose
M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739

Jesse Riseborough
M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, Australia
Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom
T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia
T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

riotinto.com

Category: Kennecott

(Fixes typographical error in paragraph 2)

July 21 (Reuters) – Miner Rio Tinto on Wednesday decided to shut a furnace at its Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) project in South Africa, as supply of the raw material used to fuel it was hampered by an "escalation in the security situation".

Last month, it declared a force majeure on customer contracts and halted mining and smelting operations at the project following a violent community unrest and a report that an employee was killed in May.

The miner said shutting one of the four furnaces at the mineral sands project would reduce the use of its stockpile of feedstock and limit the long-term impacts of a shutdown on RBM's furnaces.

"Shutting a furnace has a major impact on the business and broader community and it not a decision we have taken lightly," Sinead Kaufman, chief executive of Rio's minerals division, said.

RBM will reassess the situation to decide on restarting the furnace or potentially shutting other furnaces depending on "when the safety and security position improves," Rio said.

All operations at RBM remain halted until further notice, the miner said. (Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi; Editing by Arun Koyyur)

MELBOURNE, Australia, July 21, 2021–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rio Tinto’s Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) operation in South Africa will shut one of its four furnaces due to the depletion of available feedstock at the plant. This is the result of mining operations being halted following an escalation in the security situation at the operations which significantly hampered the mine’s ability to operate safely. Rio Tinto declared Force Majeure on our customer contracts at RBM on 30 June 2021.

The four furnaces at RBM are dependent on a stockpile of feedstock, which is being steadily depleted. RBM’s decision to shut one furnace will reduce the call on the stockpile and limit the long-term impacts of a shutdown on the RBM’s furnaces.

Rio Tinto chief executive Minerals, Sinead Kaufman, said: "Shutting a furnace has a major impact on the business and broader community and it not a decision we have taken lighty. However, we will not put production ahead of the safety of our people and there are still fundamental criteria that must be met before we can resume operations in a sustainable manner.

"We continue to work with national and provincial governments as well as community structures to find a lasting solution to the current situation so that operations can resume as soon as it is possible to safely do so."

RBM will regularly reassess the situation to make further decisions on any potential restart or the shutting of the other furnaces, depending on when the safety and security position improves.

RBM is one of the largest businesses in KwaZulu-Natal, with a workforce of some 5,000 people and the largest taxpayer in KwaZulu-Natal. The company contributed R8 billion to the national economy in 2020.

All operations at RBM remain halted until further notice.

This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210720006316/en/

Contacts

Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com

Media Relations, UK
Illtud Harri
M +44 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite
M +44 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Americas
Matthew Klar
T +1 514 608 4429

Media Relations, Australia
Jonathan Rose
M +61 447 028 913

Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739

Jesse Riseborough
M +61 436 653 412

Investor Relations, UK
Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178

David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978

Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877

Investor Relations, Australia
Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462

Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948

Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom
T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885

Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia
T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404

riotinto.com

Category: RBM
Category: General