Rio Tinto wins prestigious environment awards - the Golden Geckos

Rio Tinto's HIsmelt iron-making process has won the 2008 Golden Gecko - Western Australia's most prestigious award for environmental performance in the resources industry.

The victory was achieved amid competition from what organisers described as "among the strongest field of nominees" in the award's history.

In addition, Rio Tinto also took off the Certificate of Merit for minimising the environmental impact of its Lang Hancock Railway (LHR), the 68-kilometre spur line linking the Hope Downs mine with its East Pilbara rail network.

"This is a fantastic result for HIsmelt and for Rio Tinto, and demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that sensible economic development can be achieved without compromising environmental sustainability," Rio Tinto Iron Ore chief executive, Sam Walsh, said.

The Golden Gecko awards are sponsored by the Department of Industry and Resources (DoIR). The selection panel includes the Department of Environment and Conservation, the Conservation Council of WA and the Department of Water.

The two awards capped off a great year for Rio Tinto, one in which the Pilbara's annual iron ore capacity is being advanced towards 200 million tonnes, with an increase to 320 million tonnes capacity now scheduled for 2012.

"It is encouraging to see that awareness of environmental sustainability within the West Australian mining and petroleum sectors continues to grow in line with production growth," DoIR's Director-General Anne Nolan said.

HIsmelt Operations was recognised for its pioneering role in creating "a new steel making process that creates less pollution and a smaller environmental footprint than conventional blast furnace technology." Its plant in Kwinana, south of Perth, operates on a commercial basis, and is ramping up annual production to 800,000 tonnes of pig iron.

HIsmelt's General Manager, technology and operations John Dumbill, said the award submission focussed not only on the innovative technology but also the sustainable development principles they sought to apply throughout the operation. "This recognises the huge efforts of the team here in Kwinana and our on-going commitment to creating a new innovative iron-making technology that has a lower environmental impact."

The LHR project's environmental advisor, Bronwyn Bell, said that their award submission focussed on a number of important areas. "We used sustainable development principles for selecting the route for our railway. We were also able to use clever engineering to protect the Mulga shrub populations and make our cleared areas blend with their surroundings - returning them to their natural vegetation."

The award acknowledges the contribution of both Rio Tinto and Calibre Engenium Joint Venture personnel, showing that sustainable development outcomes can be achieved while meeting the business' expansion objectives in the Pilbara.

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.

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Rio Tinto wins prestigious environment awards - the Golden Geckos [PDF: 53 KB]