Rio Tinto Iron Ore

Heavyweight unit accounts for a quarter of Group turnover

Rio Tinto Iron Ore is one of the Group's most significant business units.  The product group includes Australian iron ore suppliers Hamersley Iron and Robe River, the HIsmelt plant in Kwinana, the Iron Ore Company of Canada , Corumba operations in Brasil, and the Orissa and Simandou development projects.

In the Pilbara region of Western Australia, Rio Tinto Iron Ore has a network of eleven mines, three shipping terminals, two power-plants and the largest privately owned railway in Australia. The mines are operated by Pilbara Iron, and owned by Hamersley Iron, and Robe River Iron Associates.

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

Rio Tinto Iron Ore has a specialised Expansion Projects unit to manage a portfolio of major expansion activities and studies in the Pilbara.  The Rio Tinto Iron Ore growth strategy has seen approximately US$5 billion committed to port, rail, power and mine assets since 2003 to increase capacity and capitalise on strong demand internationally.  The Pilbara is looking to expand capacity to 320 million tonnes annually.

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