Rio Tinto brings employment to remote Aboriginal communities

Rio Tinto has expanded its weekly fly-in, fly-out commute from the West Kimberley to iron ore mines in the East Pilbara.

The second weekly flight stops at Djarindjin/Lombadina as well as Broome, removing the need for employees from the Dampier Peninsula to drive to Broome for the commute to the Pilbara.

Rio Tinto started a regional fly-in, fly-out program from Broome in April 2007 with five Aboriginal employees. It now employs 25 Aboriginal people from the West Kimberley who work at the West Angelas and Hope Downs mines on a two-week-on, one-week-off roster.

Rio Tinto has fly-in, fly-out programs from Geraldton and Busselton, and recently announced plans for a Carnarvon program aimed at Aboriginal employment. A small fly-in, fly-out service for Aboriginal employees in Port Hedland will soon be extended to take employees from the remote Pilbara community of Nullagine.

Rio Tinto's Managing Director of Pilbara Mine Operations Greg Lilleyman said regional fly-in, fly-out was an important initiative to increase the number of Aboriginal employees working at the company's iron ore mines.

"As our mines expand, we need to recruit many more workers and we are committed to employ as many Aboriginal people as possible. Initiatives like regional FIFO, community-based training programs and onsite mentoring help to recruit and retain Aboriginal people from the Pilbara and around Western Australia."

The extension of the service to the Dampier Peninsula will be officially launched with a ceremony at the Djarindjin/Lombadina today.

About Rio Tinto
Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa

Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. All statements other than statements of historical facts included in this announcement, including, without limitation, those regarding Rio Tinto's financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations (including development plans and objectives relating to Rio Tinto's products, production forecasts and reserve and resource positions), are forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Rio Tinto, or industry results, to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Such forward-looking statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding Rio Tinto's present and future business strategies and the environment in which Rio Tinto will operate in the future. Among the important factors that could cause Rio Tinto's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include, among others, levels of actual production during any period, levels of demand and market prices, the ability to produce and transport products profitably, the impact of foreign currency exchange rates on market prices and operating costs, operational problems, political uncertainty and economic conditions in relevant areas of the world, the actions of competitors, activities by governmental authorities such as changes in taxation or regulation and such other risk factors identified in Rio Tinto's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") or Form 6-Ks furnished to the SEC. Forward-looking statements should, therefore, be construed in light of such risk factors and undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Rio Tinto expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking (except as required by applicable law, the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the "Takeover Code"), the UK Listing Rules, the Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the Financial Services Authority and the Listing Rules of the Australian Securities Exchange) to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in Rio Tinto's expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statement is based.

Rio Tinto brings employment to remote Aboriginal communities [PDF: 71 KB]