Business overview

We are the aluminium business of Rio Tinto. We maintain large scale, long life, efficient operations. We have over 24,000 employees and are active on six continents and in 27 countries. This includes a significant presence in Australia, Canada and France.

Our operations are divided into two business units: Bauxite and Alumina, and Primary Metal.

We currently own, operate or have interests in:

• 6 bauxite mines and deposits in 4 countries
• 10 alumina refineries in 5 countries
• 23 aluminium smelters in 10 countries
• 12 power generating plants including 9 hydroelectric facilities

Annually we produce approximately:

• 35 million tonnes of bauxite (2008)
• 9 million tonnes of alumina (2008)
• 4 million tonnes of aluminium (2008)

Our global and Primary Metal headquarters are in Montreal, Canada. Bauxite and Alumina is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia.

Our products are derived from all stages of the aluminium production process:

• Mining bauxite
• Refining bauxite into alumina
• Smelting alumina to produce aluminium
• Manufacturing a large variety of fabricated, semi-fabricated aluminium and composite products

Our AP smelting technology is the industry benchmark in energy and operating cost efficiency . We continue to invest in breakthrough technologies that drive step changes in:

• Energy consumption
• Environmental impact 
• Full economic cost