Capability brochure
December 2013
Copper
A vital element
of the modern world
Capability brochure
Copper
October 2012
Capability brochure
Copper
December 2013
Our Copper business
Rio Tinto is a leading global mining and metals business, involved in every stage of metal
and mineral production. The Group combines Rio Tinto plc, a London and New York
Stock Exchange listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian
Securities Exchange.
Cover image
Illuminating the natural
world: home of the
Natural History Museum
of Utah, the exterior of
the Rio Tinto Center in
Salt Lake City is adorned
with 42,000 feet of
copper from Kennecott’s
Bingham Canyon Mine.
Left
Oyu Tolgoi – which
began production
in 2013 is creating
a sustainable legacy
for generations of
Mongolians.
Right
World-class performance:
more than eight tonnes
of copper, gold and
silver from our Bingham
Canyon Mine and
Oyu Tolgoi project
went into the London
2012 Olympic and
Paralympic medals –
rewarding the best
athletes from around
the globe.
The Copper group helps meet demand for one of the
world’s most vital, sought-after resources, in ways that
create superior and long-term value to our stakeholders.
As a leader in our sector, we believe in moving our
industry forward. While we expect market volatility in
the short term, we are confident that the long-term
fundamentals are attractive for the industry, driven
by challenges bringing new supply online across the
different players in the copper market. We feel we
are well positioned to take advantage of these strong
industry fundamentals and we are always innovating,
and always exploring new ways to produce safer, better,
more efficient and more sustainable results.
Our strategy is focused on 4 + 2 tier-one assets – large,
long-life, low-cost assets. Our portfolio has four operating
assets – Kennecott, Oyu Tolgoi, Escondida and Grasberg
– and two world-class greenfield projects, Resolution
and La Granja.
In 2012, we produced 549 thousand
tonnes of mined copper (Rio Tinto
share), making Rio Tinto the world’s
fifth largest supplier. The product
group also produced 294 thousand
ounces of mined gold, 3,657
thousand ounces of mined silver
and 9.4 thousand tonnes of
molybdenum as by-products
of its copper operations.
Four strategic pillars guide us and focus our efforts,
time, resources and investments.
• Creating an environment where protecting and
sustaining health, safety, the environment and the
partnerships with communities where we operate
is at the core of everything we do.
• Improving productivity, leveraging technology
and innovation where it creates value.
• Connecting mines to market by maximising the
value of the products we mine.
• Developing an aligned, capable, engaged and
collaborative workforce.
Delivering our strategy will position the Copper group as a
very low-cost producer in the industry and create real and
sustainable value for our business and our stakeholders.
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Capability brochure
Copper
December 2013
A future world at work
Copper is found in nearly every home and vehicle. From the electricity that lights
our homes, to the infrastructure that builds our cities, to the technology that connects
our world, copper is an essential element in making modern life work.
The world uses more than 26 million tonnes of copper
every year. As the world’s leading economies continue
to urbanise and industrialise, refined copper demand will
increase by an additional 7 million tonnes by 2020 to
around 33 million tonnes. Around 22 million tonnes of
that will be met by mined copper with the remainder
being supplied from scrap.
Located in many of the world’s remotest and toughest
environments, high-grade copper ore is one of the most
challenging materials to extract. For centuries, it has
been one of the world’s most in-demand commodities.
Malleable, durable, resistant to corrosion, hygienic and
an excellent conductor of heat and electricity, copper
is one of our most useful and versatile metals.
From the copper pipes of the Pharaohs to the 4,700
medals awarded at the London 2012 Olympic and
Paralympic Games, wherever you look, you are sure
to find copper or a metal produced as a by-product
of the copper refining process.
Today, copper is a metal at the forefront of green
innovation. Hybrid and electric cars rely on it, as do
renewable energy sources such as solar power, wind
farms, thermal and hydro-electricity. From on-demand
water heaters to solar panels and smart wiring,
copper will be an integral part of the green homes
of tomorrow, helping us drive forward into a more
energy-efficient future.
Producing copper
Copper is produced either from open pit or underground
mines – Rio Tinto has both. After the ore has been
extracted from the mine, the copper production process
takes place in various stages.
Crushed copper ore is finely ground, then concentrated,
smelted and refined. At each of these stages, the
copper content increases as impurities are removed.
By-products from this process may include gold, silver
or molybdenum. Eventually, refined copper of 99.99
per cent purity is produced.
Oxide or low grade sulphide copper ores may be
processed to refined metal by solvent extraction
and electrowinning, bypassing the smelting stage.
At our Oyu Tolgoi, Grasberg, and the bulk of our
Escondida operations, the onsite processing stops
after the concentrating phase, and copper concentrate
is the product that is sold.
Leading through technology
Rio Tinto’s Copper group has a history of innovation
that it is proud of.
Our Kennecott Bingham Canyon Mine in the US was our
first mine to realise the value of mining low grade ores
through economies of scale with its use of giant shovels
and haul trucks moving hundreds of thousands of tonnes
per day.
In the future, a significant proportion of our copper
production will be sourced from large-scale
underground mines using block-cave technology.
This involves undercutting the orebody to allow rock
stresses and gravity to fragment the ore, so that it falls
naturally through funnels for hoisting to surface. It is
a fine example of how we have made our operations
more efficient.
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Capability brochure
Copper
December 2013
End use of copper
For communication, information and
relaxation, we rely on electronic devices
like smartphones and computers – all
of which are powered by wiring that
contains copper.
Below right
Rio Tinto is setting the
pace of innovation in
copper technology. For
instance, we are taking
industry best practice in
leaching technology and
improving on it, with a
view to implementing
at our La Granja project
in Peru.
We invest in value-creating, leading edge technology
that drive forward the efficiency and safety of our
mining processes and reduce our environmental
impact, above and below ground.
Our Copper group is working to develop new tunnel
boring systems that could decrease the time it takes
to construct an underground mine by 40 per cent.
The tunnel boring system will undergo further testing
in due course. At Kennecott we are piloting advanced
ore sorting technology that will allow us to detect
and separate valuable minerals from waste rock and
upgrade marginal ore. Trials of alternative fuel vehicles,
best-in-class lighting technologies and new means
of equipment optimisation are also being employed
to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions.
A people-first business
Our customers have always been at the heart of all
we do. Many have been with us for decades.
We are always searching for ways to improve and
make a significant contribution to the world around
us. Our membership in the International Copper
Association helps us play an important role in the
further development and research of copper usage,
allowing them to award scholarships to the brightest
graduate talent around. Encouraging the minds of
tomorrow is fundamental to our future success.
We do this by supporting scholarships, and graduate
programmes across the world, through to seconding
Mongolian national graduates to operations throughout
our business.
We apply this same commitment to developing our
people. Through our Copper Learning Initiative we
encourage our people to be the most capable and the
best skilled in the business. Through specific development
programmes and by leveraging the expertise we have
in-house, we are focused on fostering and building
an aligned, capable and engaged workforce.
Forging close customer relationships means we learn
more about each other’s business, creating mutual
value and unearthing shared opportunity. It also allows
us to provide more efficient, tailored and innovative
solutions for their needs and requirements. Solutions like
delivering cathode with cleaner chemical specifications
compared to the industry standard, and “just-in-time”
deliveries, which time our shipments to coincide with
metal consumption, saving both time and money.
Our dedicated teams are always in conversation with
our customers so we can anticipate and react to any
issues when they happen, and often before. Our aim
is to strengthen and maintain a commercial
competitive advantage.
3
Capability brochure
Copper
December 2013
Our Copper operations
At each of our copper operations, we are dedicated to the most forward-looking,
efficient and productive methods of extracting, processing and refining copper.
All the time, providing long-lasting positive social and economic impact for
the communities of which we are a part. At the heart of our activity is a priority
focus on working safely.
Right
Throughout its history,
the Bingham Canyon
Mine has produced more
copper than any other
mine — more than 19
million tonnes.
Kennecott
Kennecott is wholly owned by Rio Tinto and operates the
Bingham Canyon Mine, Copperton Concentrator, Garfield
Smelter and a refinery complex near Salt Lake City. The
mine produces copper, gold, molybdenum, silver and
other products that make modern life work.
Below
Haul truck from the
Bingham Canyon
Mine: for more than a
century, the mine has
supplied copper, gold,
silver and molybdenum
to the US and beyond.
The site is one of the world’s few fully integrated mining,
concentrating, smelting and refining operations. This
means the extensive journey from unrefined orebody
below ground to 99.99 per cent pure copper ready for
commercial use can happen at this single operation.
4
On April 10, 2013, the Bingham Canyon Mine experienced
a 150-million-tonne landslide on the northeast wall.
Kennecott’s sophisticated monitoring systems, proactive
monitoring efforts and advanced planning, meant that
no Kennecott employees were injured in the landslide.
This significant event will result in a reduction in
Kennecott’s annual refined copper production until
2015. Despite this reduction in refined copper production,
months ahead of schedule, top-to-bottom access within
the Bingham Canyon Mine returned with the opening of
Kennecott’s new mine access road. Kennecott has also
recovered most of the haul trucks buried in the slide, and
several of those trucks are now back in service. Recovery
work will continue until the end of 2015, at which time
Kennecott expects to be at pre-slide production levels.
Environmental stewardship is at the heart of
Kennecott’s commitment to sustainable development.
Its Garfield smelter is one of the cleanest in the world,
capturing 99.9 per cent of sulphur emissions, while a
6.2 megawatt combined heat and power system at the
refinery reduces emissions by 90 per cent. In addition,
Kennecott actively pursues a variety of programmes
to conserve and protect water as well as natural
surroundings and habitats near its operations.
Kennecott is one of the world’s
few fully integrated mining,
concentrating, smelting
and refining operations.
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Capability brochure
Copper
December 2013
Example of raw
copper ore.
Below
Escondida is the
single largest copper
producing operation
contributing roughly
seven per cent of
annual world supply.
Escondida
The Minera Escondida copper mine in Chile’s Atacama
Desert, of which we own 30 per cent, is the world’s
largest copper-producing mine. Operated by BHP
Billiton, it represents around 5 per cent of global
copper production and around 15 per cent of all
copper production from Chile.
Grasberg
Grasberg, located in the province of Papua in Indonesia,
is one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines in
terms of ore and production. It is owned and operated
by Freeport Indonesia (PTFI), a subsidiary of US based
Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX).
Rio Tinto has a joint venture with FCX giving us a
40 per cent share of production above specific levels
until 2021, and 40 per cent of all production after 2021.
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Rio Tinto will jointly invest in a $3 billion
seawater desalination facility for the
Escondida copper mine, providing a
sustainable supply of water for the organic
growth project at the copper concentrator
while limiting the project’s reliance on
regional aquifers.
Capability brochure
Copper
December 2013
Copper is used in the
wiring of electrical devices
such as earphones due to
its strong conductivity.
Below
Located in the
Southern Gobi Desert,
just 80 km from the
Mongolia-China
border, Oyu Tolgoi
will be one of the
largest copper-gold
mines in the world
and is perfectly
positioned to supply
international customers.
Oyu Tolgoi
Located in Mongolia’s South Gobi Desert, Oyu Tolgoi
is the largest new copper-gold operation in the world.
Commercial operations began in mid-2013 and it is
expected to be a top-ten copper producer and one of the
world’s biggest gold producers over the coming decades.
Rio Tinto owns 51 per cent of Turquoise Hill Resources,
which holds a 66 per cent interest in Oyu Tolgoi LLC.
The government of Mongolia owns the remaining 34
per cent. Rio Tinto also manages the project on behalf
of the partnership.
As the biggest investment in Mongolian history, we
are applying international best-practice to the project.
This includes world-class health and safety standards
and a commitment to sustainable development and
operational excellence. Ninety per cent of the Oyu Tolgoi
workforce is Mongolian and our extensive training and
vocational education programmes are developing a
strong workforce for Mongolia’s minerals sector. Our
aim is to deliver an operation that produces long-term,
meaningful economic and social benefits for Mongolia.
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Capability brochure
Copper
December 2013
Our Copper projects
Our Copper group is always looking ahead. This ambition has not only seen us
build a strong portfolio of copper operations but also acquire interests in several
of the world’s largest known undeveloped copper deposits. We have a strategy aimed
at positioning our Copper business to maximise value from the long-term potential
of industry fundamentals. Core to this is a portfolio of four tier-one assets – Kennecott,
Oyu Tolgoi, Escondida and Grasberg – plus two world-class greenfield projects,
Resolution and La Granja.
Below
Copper wiring in cables
used to create electricity
- just one of the many
end uses of copper that
are essential to our
everyday life.
Resolution Copper
Resolution Copper is among the top-ten largest
undeveloped copper assets in the world and is located
more than 2,000 metres below surface. When in full
production, the mine is expected to be the largest
copper producer in North America, eventually ramping
up to over 453 thousand tonnes of copper per year.
The Resolution Copper project is situated in Superior,
Arizona, US, in the area of the depleted Magma Copper
mine. Rio Tinto has a 55 per cent share in the project,
in partnership with BHP Billiton.
8
La Granja
Located in the Cajamarca region of northern Peru,
La Granja is wholly owned by Rio Tinto. It is among the
top-ten largest undeveloped copper assets in the world
with an inferred mineral resource of 3.6 billion tonnes
at 0.51 per cent copper. La Granja has the potential to
be a very large, long-life operation. Instead of looking at
La Granja as a conventional milling operation producing
concentrates for export, the pre-feasibility study is
aimed at demonstrating the possibility of recovering
copper metal using leaching of copper from whole ore,
with solvent extraction and electrowinning.
Capability brochure
Copper
Above
Resolution Copper
Mining is developing
one of the largest
undeveloped copper
resources in the world
located near Superior,
Arizona, US.
October 2013
Copper operations and projects†*
Operations*
1 Escondida (30%)
2 Grasberg joint venture (40%)
3 Kennecott (100%)
4 Oyu Tolgoi (51% of Turquoise
Hill Resources)
Copper Projects
5 La Granja (100%)
6 Pebble (10%)
7 Resolution (55%)
For more general information
on the copper business, or any
operations or projects in particular,
please visit riotinto.com/copper.
Locations on the map are indicative
Operations and projects are wholly owned unless
otherwise shown.
†
*By-products may include gold, silver and molybdenum
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Rio Tinto plc
2 Eastbourne Terrace
London W2 6LG
United Kingdom
Rio Tinto Limited
120 Collins Street
Melbourne, Victoria 3000
Australia
T +44 (0)20 7781 2000
T +61 (0)3 9283 3333
riotinto.com
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