Rio Tinto’s approach
to community
investment
GOODETHICS IS
GOODBUSINESS
GREG LILLEYMAN
PRESIDENT, PILBARA OPERATIONS
RIO TINTO
Rio Tinto is one of the best known mining companies in the
world, and one of the most successful. We all have different
measures of success – generating shareholder returns is an
obvious one; and achieving and maintaining an excellent safety
performance. But there is another, broader consideration that
also belongs in this equation.
Making a positive impact on the communities we operate in
is central to our outlook. This underlies our approach in a
business sense, and informs the wider legacy we leave behind.
At Rio Tinto our approach to investing in the community is
simple – to make a positive contribution and a lasting difference
in both the local area around our many operations, as well as in
the broader state, regional and territory contexts.
We know it is not all about digging dirt out of the ground,
however important that is to our generation of wealth in and for
the community – it is also how we bring and foster value in those
communities. A good example of this is through our engagement
with indigenous communities, which encapsulates a range of
regional standards that we must meet, and mutual obligations
that all parties must abide by.
This will involve respect for heritage values, providing
employment and training opportunities, educating the next
generation, protecting the environment and of course, providing
appropriate financial compensation. In 2011, Rio Tinto paid
$102 million to traditional owners under land use agreements.
Such arrangements with such direct stakeholders are
becoming well known, and more importantly, increasingly
accepted as the right standard by the resources industry and
wider community. But there are other stakeholders who,
while not so directly engaged in our daily business, also have a
Rio Tinto’s mine, rail and
port network is designed
to operate at maximum
efficiency, but the amount
of ore shipped is only one
measure of its true value
to the community
MINESITE 2012
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