Rio Tinto’s Gudai-Darri mine in Western Australia.
Established in 1873, Rio Tinto has become the world’s second-largest mining company, and chief executive Jakob Stausholm recently took time to reflect on the group’s legacy.
Rio Tinto was founded when a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto river in south-western Spain. Within 10 years, Rio was the largest copper producer in the world.
“The Rio Tinto copper deposits have been mined on and off for more than 5000 years,” Stausholm said at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) last week.
“Many civilisations, from the Phoenicians to the Romans, were drawn to Spain by the wealth of those mines. However, by the time the Romans left it was thought that the accessible deposits had been exhausted, and the site was largely abandoned.
“The mines were reopened in the 19th century by a Spanish king who was desperate for cash, but they were badly run and losing money. When the king eventually lost his throne, the new government decided to sell the mine.
“Buying a loss-making mine with a depleted resource in a country recovering from civil war was seen as mad at the time. But a group of investors in London saw an opportunity. And on 29 March 1873, they formed the Rio Tinto company to purchase and develop the mine.”
Stausholm said the investors introduced modern mining techniques, equipment and infrastructure to turn a “run-down operation” into one of Europe’s most profitable mines.
“New technology allowed them (the investors) to extract copper from what others had dismissed as waste,” he said. “And within 10 years, the Rio Tinto company was the largest copper producer in the world.
“This story illustrates the importance of vision, and the potential for innovation to transform entire industries. The ability to recognise potential, use innovation and achieve success has been key to Rio Tinto over 150 years.”
Stausholm said the company’s initial vision is still apparent in the Rio Tinto of today, where there is one overarching purpose: Finding better ways to provide the materials the world needs.
“Our purpose speaks to our drive for innovation, continuous improvement and impeccable ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance, and connects our contribution to everyday life, our customers, the communities where we operate, and society at large,” he said.
Stausholm highlighted Rio Tinto’s Safe Production System (SPS) as a key driver of company innovation and performance. SPS aims to unlock the potential of Rio’s employees, their skills and expertise to create stable, predictable operations.
“I’ve been impressed by our progress in 2022, achieving a number of operational records, including a record second half performance across the Pilbara iron ore mine and rail system,” he said.
“We now have 30 deployments at 16 sites and 86 Kaizens, which are rapid problem-solving activities, completed or in progress.
“Where we have been deploying the SPS, we have sites that are safer, more engaged employees, and assets that are more productive. We will continue to deploy the SPS to more sites in 2023.”
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