- Business
- Rio Tinto Group (RIO1.DE) is a British-Australian multinational mining company that finds, mines, and processes mineral resources to produce essential metals and materials for global industries. Founded in 1873 with origins in Spain's Rio Tinto mines, the company maintains dual headquarters in London, England, and Melbourne, Australia, and operates across more than 35 countries including Australia, Canada, the United States, Mongolia, and Chile. It organizes its activities into key product groups encompassing iron ore from Pilbara operations in Western Australia; aluminium including bauxite mining, alumina refining, and primary aluminium smelting; copper and associated by-products such as gold, silver, molybdenum, and sulphuric acid from assets like Oyu Tolgoi in Mongolia; diamonds; and energy and minerals covering industrial products like borates, titanium dioxide, salt, uranium, and lithium. The company serves major markets in steel production, transportation, construction, packaging, energy, agriculture, and battery materials, with iron ore and copper representing core revenue drivers.
In recent developments, Rio Tinto entered a strategic partnership with Chile's Codelco in May 2025 to form a joint venture for lithium development at the Salar de Maricunga, where Rio Tinto will acquire a 49.99% stake and contribute up to $900 million, subject to regulatory approvals expected to close in early 2026. The company completed its $6.7 billion acquisition of Arcadium Lithium in 2025, strengthening its position in battery materials supply chains. Under new CEO Simon Trott, appointed in August 2025 to succeed Jakob Stausholm, Rio Tinto announced a portfolio simplification strategy in December 2025, targeting $5 billion to $10 billion in cash proceeds through asset sales, divestments, joint ventures, or minority stakes in non-core businesses such as titanium and borates, alongside cost reductions and a scaled-back focus on lithium expansion to prioritize iron ore and copper growth. It also partnered with Calix in November 2025 to test low-emissions steelmaking technology in Western Australia while pausing its BioIron initiative, and raised its 2025 copper production forecast to 860,000-875,000 tons amid faster ramp-up at Oyu Tolgoi.