Resources and Energy Symposium

John McGagh

Head of Innovation

22 May 2012

Improve Productivity, to ..

• Improve safety

• Find new ore bodies

• Improve recovery rates

• Recover from difficult ore

bodies

• Remove process waste

• Improve capital productivity

• Improve labour productivity

• Reduce energy use

Why Innovate?

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The productivity challenge

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The Productivity Commission report indicates declining multi-factor

productivity is a challenge for the Australian mining sector

Index of mining industry yield (1974-75 to 2006-07)

Demand outlook

Shenzhen 1982 Shenzhen 2007

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Supply picture

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Rio Tinto’s Mine of the Future™ programme

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How we will: Explore better.

Exploit the resource better. Go underground deeper,

and faster. Recover more from difficult deposits.

And achieve all of the

above more safely

Rio Tinto Innovation network model

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Africa

Europe

North

America

Australasia

Asia

Rio Tinto presence

No presence

Rio Tinto centres Formal long term (around 5 years)

alliances with world class institutions

provide Rio Tinto access to stable

research resources to pursue targeted

Rio Tinto programmes.

Technology partnerships Strategic partnerships and MoUs

with leading global suppliers to help

develop technology to commercial

outcomes.

Centre for Underground Mine Construction

Centre for Advanced Mineral Recovery

Centre for Materials and Sensing

Centre for Advanced Mineral Sorting

Centre for Mine Automation

2

1 1

2

3

4

5

1 1 1 2

3 5

6&

4 2&

8

1

7 1 3 1 4

1 5

Komatsu

Aker Wirth

Atlas Copco

e2v

Tomra

University of Nottingham

University of Western Australia 7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Herrenknecht 8

Innovation Centre

6

6

Protecting our intellectual property

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© 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved

• Structured control & governance

• Data management & security

• Rigorous investment proposals

• Freedom-to-operate

• Patent families and walls

• Trade secrets, copyright & trademarks,

individual contracts

Idea Proof of

Concept Pilot

Demo Deploy Support

Innovation without intellectual

property protection is

philanthropy

Innovative technologies are a key differentiator

9

Our Mine of the FutureTM is shaped by four significant value levers

Find Mine Recover Develop

• Find future tier one

ore bodies

• VK1 in initial flight

trials

• Complex testing

programme in 2012

• Develop future block

cave mines safer,

faster, better

• Tunnel boring system

trials to commence at

Northparkes in 2012

• Optimise resource

productivity

• Expansion of

driverless truck fleet

• Operations Centre

• Smart drilling and

blasting

• Autonomous trains

(AutoHaul™)

• Recover more from

mineral deposits

• IronX™ iron ore

recovery pilot plant to

be scaled up in 2012

• NuWave™ copper

sorting pilot plant

being commissioned

at KUC

Innovation networks created through long term strategic alliances

Protection of Intellectual Property is key to sustaining competitive advantage

2007

Trials starts on the Operations

Centre Automated truck project

starts in Western Australia

Mine of the Future™ – surface

2008

Automated train

trial

2009/10

Automated trucks

Pilbara ‘A Pit’ trial

2010

Drillers Aid trial

2012

Cab-less Drill

2011

Komatsu MOU for 150

autonomous trucks

deployment

2010/11

Automated drills trial

Automated drills

2010

Operations Centre

commissioned

2012

Automated Train

Deployment

2008

Atlas Copco Alliance

2012

Advanced Survey

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Mine of the Future™ mining practice Closed process loops – machine coordinated/driven

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Unprecedented Precision & Control

• Holistic view of the operations

• Integration of islands of autonomy

• Integrated, near real-time information

• Remote supervision & operation

• Improve decision making

• High levels of predictability

• Improved productivity and profitability

• Improved safety

Operations Centre: aligning systems…

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…for greater productivity

The integrated model has given far better

end-to-end visibility of the value chain

• Reduced schedule variability by

• More reliable planning and

execution functions

• Managing scheduling deviations

• Improved train dumper productivity by

• Our ability to keep trains

scheduled to the system

bottleneck (in-load)

• Tonnage throughput at dumpers

Reduce schedule variability

(2008 = 100)

Improved train dumper productivity

(2008 = 100)

100 115

127 131

2008 Average 2009 Average 2010 Average 2011 Average

100

66

52 53

2008 Average 2009 Average 2010 Average 2011 Average

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Automation can address declining productivity

• Investment in automation technology can

address declining productivity in the mining

sector

• Step-change innovations can deliver process

and systems efficiencies and significantly

reduce the risks to human health and safety,

as well as delivering process and systems

efficiencies, and environmental benefits

• This investment may sustain Australia’s longer-

term competitiveness in the mining industry

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Questions?