Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Our business
We operate in 35 countries where our 57,000 employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Our purpose in action
Continuous improvement and innovation are part of our DNA
Innovation
The need for innovation is greater than ever
We supply the metals and minerals used to help the world grow and decarbonise
Iron Ore
The primary raw material used to make steel, which is strong, long-lasting and cost-efficient
Lithium
The lightest of all metals, it is a key element needed for low-carbon technologies
Copper
Tough but malleable, corrosion-resistant and recyclable, and an excellent conductor of heat and transmitter of electricity
Bringing to market materials critical to urbanisation and the transition to a low-carbon economy
Oyu Tolgoi
One of the most modern, safe and sustainable operations in the world
Rincon Project
A long-life, low-cost and low-carbon lithium source
Simandou Project
The world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit
Providing materials the world needs in a responsible way
Climate Change
We’re targeting net zero emissions by 2050
Nature solutions
Our nature-based solutions projects complement the work we're doing to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions
Decarbonisation progress update
We have a clear plan on decarbonisation - find out more about our progress in 2024
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
Acquisition of Arcadium Lithium
Bringing our scale, development capabilities and financial strength to the Arcadium Lithium portfolio
Get the latest news, stories and updates
Things you can't live without
Our podcast discussing what needs to happen to create a sustainable future for the everyday items we have come to rely on
The 'f' word of innovation
How unlocking innovation requires a change of mindset
Reducing titanium oxide's carbon footprint
Our BlueSmelting technology could drastically reduce carbon emissions during ore processing
Discover more about life at Rio Tinto
Graduates and students
If you want to drive real change, we have just the place to do it
Empowering families with flexibility
Supporting new parents of any gender with equal access to parental leave
Available jobs
Join our team
Each year, the RFDS provides medical care to around 370,000 Australians. That’s 370,000 reasons why we’re proud to call them our partners – but here are three more:
Rio and the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) go back a long way. Just like the RFDS, we believe everyone deserves help, when help is needed most. That is why, since 2004, we have committed nearly A$40 million to the RFDS in Western Australia. And in 2020, we announced a five-year, A$1.25 million partnership with the RFDS in Queensland.
Our employees, communities, and neighbours live and work in some of the most remote parts of Australia. And the RFDS is there to help them, if they ever need it.
In 1928 RFDS founder Reverend John Flynn saw the potential of new technology, such as aviation and radio communications, to help people living in some of Australia’s most remote areas. Today two Rio Tinto LifeFlight PC-24 jets – the world’s most advanced sky-based emergency ward – provide lifesaving medical care to the furthest reaches of Western Australia. And another jet is on the way in 2022.
Just like the RFDS, technology has helped us work more safely and efficiently too. We’re proud to play a part in helping the RFDS remain the most innovative, efficient and effective aero medical service provider in the world.
Aeromedical Retrievals
Patients Treated on Rio Tinto LifeFlight PC-24 Jets
Kilometres Travelled
It is only now, looking back and understanding the need for the flight and the operation – and all the support I have had since - that I understood how close I came.
More
On 24 October 2019 I woke up in the afternoon to get ready for night shift and I didn’t feel 100%. So I got up, walked to the bathroom and then… bang…the next thing I knew, I was lying on the floor up against the bathroom door. I couldn’t move my leg or my arm, so I dragged myself out to get my phone. I called my crew mates for help but when I tried to speak it sounded like gibberish. I thought ‘oh my God, they won’t know what I am talking about’.
Luckily they knew something was wrong when I didn’t arrive for dinner at the mess. They came and found me in my room and called an ambulance which rushed me to the local hospital. The doctor on call suspected I was having a stroke, but they needed to do more tests to confirm whether it was a clot or a bleed. They arranged for the RFDS to fly me to Perth, 1,500km away, for a CT scan. I was so lucky to be able to see the specialist who found a clot deep in my brain and I was rushed in for emergency surgery.
I’m doing better but still have a long rehab journey in front of me – but the truth is, without the RFDS I probably wouldn’t even be here today.”
The RFDS are my earth angels.
I was nine weeks pregnant when I felt excruciating pain in my stomach.
The local doctors were worried I had an ectopic pregnancy and complications with my appendix too. So they called the RFDS to fly me 200kms from Karratha to Port Hedland for urgent surgery.
I remember feeling scared on the plane, but the nurse was great – we spoke about the full moon we could see, and that helped me feel calm. I had to have two operations in Port Headland – they removed my appendix as well as one of my fallopian tubes.
I recovered well from the surgeries but then at 29 weeks pregnant, I started having signs of early labour. So the RFDS flew me to King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth. Once again, the RFDS nurse and pilot were amazing: they made jokes to comfort me!
After two and a half months in hospital our little girl, Dakoda, was born safe and well. The RFDS are the reason why I am able to hold, feed, love and watch Dakoda grow. I will always be grateful for the RFDS and for those who support them.
Glenn – a wharf supervisor at our Yarwun alumina refinery in Gladstone, Queensland, and a long-time donator to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) – never thought he would one day be an RFDS patient.
Glenn was having chest pains when the RFDS came to his aid and quickly transferred him to Brisbane for lifesaving treatment. The self-confessed aviation fanatic managed to find humor in what he calls a “somewhat life and death situation”.
“The funny thing is, all I could think about was the plane, and how it was configured for take-off,” Glenn says.
There are a lot of reasons why we’re proud to partner with the RFDS. Helping people like Glenn is one of them.
Simulation has helped us create remote, safe, but still real-life ways to train our truck, drill and train operators. In Queensland, our partnership with the RFDS will help build a world-class simulation hub, which will use virtual reality, augmented reality and interactive tools to train the state’s aeromedical team of the future. Our investment will also help the RFDS deliver essential health services – including mental health – across the state, help build a new patient transfer facility in Weipa and support an existing one at Gladstone – two Queensland communities we call home. This means RFDS doctors and nurses will be able to respond faster to help critically ill people.
You might say that the sky’s the limit on what we can achieve when we partner for progress.
Jamie was a 14-year-old boy helping his dad to fill grain bins on their dairy farm when he had an accident.
“I lost my balance and fell forward into an unguarded grain auger [a machine used to feed grain into silos],” says Jamie.
“Fear and panic set in immediately – I couldn’t reach the emergency stop and I was being pulled in. I could feel my fingers detaching.”
The team at the local hospital in Bunbury, Western Australia, did everything they could but Jamie needed specialist care. So the RFDS urgently flew Jamie to Perth where surgeons rebuilt his severely damaged right hand.
Today, Jamie is the general manager of one of our iron ore mines in the Pilbara – and he is proud of our partnership with the RFDS.
“The RFDS is a necessity for regional West Aussies because we have a vast state – we live, work and holiday in very remote areas.
“Without the emergency evacuation, I may have suffered the amputation of my hand across my palm.
“And I know many people who have suffered illnesses and accidents and who the RFDS helped; without them, families would be without daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers,” Jamie said.
How we process personal data provided or obtained through this website.
With the exception of the use of cookies, Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site. A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of our Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
With the exception of the use of cookies (explained below), Rio Tinto generally does not seek to collect personal data through this website. However if you choose to provide personal data to Rio Tinto through this website (for example, by sending us an email), we will process that personal data to answer your query and if relevant, to manage our business relationship with you or your company. We won't process that personal data for other purposes except where required to meet our legal obligations or otherwise as authorised by law and notified to you.
Part 1 of this Privacy Policy contains the Rio Tinto Data Privacy Standard, which provides an overview of Rio Tinto’s approach to personal data processing. There is additional information in the appendices to the Data Privacy Standard, including information about disclosures, trans-border data transfers, the exercise of data subject rights and how to make complaints or obtain further information relating to Rio Tinto’s processing of your personal data.
If you choose to subscribe to our media releases or other communications, you can unsubscribe at any time (by following the instructions in the email or by contacting us at digital.comms@riotinto.com).
With your consent, our website uses cookies to distinguish you from other users of our website. This helps us to provide you with a good experience when you browse our website and also allows us to improve our site.
A cookie is a small file of letters and numbers that we store on your browser or the hard drive of your computer if you agree. Cookies contain information that is transferred to your computer's hard drive.
As some data privacy laws regulate IP addresses and other information collected through the use of cookies as personal data, Rio Tinto’s processing of such personal data needs to comply with its Data Privacy Standard (see Part 1 of this Privacy Policy), and also applicable data privacy laws.
These Cookies are used to provide a better user experience on the site, such as by measuring interactions with particular content or remembering your settings such as language or video playback preferences.
These Cookies allow us to analyse site usage in order to evaluate and improve its performance. They help us know how often you come to our site and when, how long you stay and any performance issues you experience whilst you are on our site.
These Cookies are used by advertising companies to inform and serve personalised ads to your devices based on your interests. These Cookies also facilitate sharing information with social networks or recording your interactions with particular ads.