Rio Tinto resumes operations at Richards Bay Minerals

Rio Tinto has today commenced the process of restarting operations at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in South Africa. This follows a stabilisation of the security situation around the mine, supported by the national and provincial government, as well as substantive engagement with host communities and their traditional authorities.

Rio Tinto chief executive Minerals Sinead Kaufman said “The safety and security of our people has been our priority throughout and we recognise the collaboration and constructive dialogue we have had with all stakeholders to get us into a position where we can restart operations and resume contributing to the host communities, KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa. I also acknowledge the resilience and dedication shown by all our people at RBM over the past weeks.”

Operations will be ramping up to capacity as soon as possible. The overall impact of the suspension of operations, including the shutdown of furnace number 4 as announced on 21 July 2021, is still to be assessed. At this time, the force majeure declared on customer contracts remains in place.

This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210824005423/en/

Please direct all enquiries to [e-mail] Media Relations, UK Illtud Harri M [phone] David Outhwaite M [phone] Media Relations, Americas Matthew Klar T [phone] Investor Relations, UK Menno Sanderse M: [phone] David Ovington M [phone] Clare Peever M [phone] Rio Tinto plc 6 St James’s Square London SW1Y 4AD United Kingdom T [phone] Registered in England No. 719885 Media Relations, Australia Jonathan Rose M [phone] Matt Chambers M [phone] Jesse Riseborough M [phone] Investor Relations, Australia Natalie Worley M [phone] Amar Jambaa M [phone] Rio Tinto Limited Level 7, 360 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 Australia T [phone] Registered in Australia ABN 96 004 458 404 riotinto.com Category: RBM