Rio Tinto says mining at ‘inflection point’ as critical minerals take centre stage

The chairman of Anglo Australian resource giant Rio Tinto says the mining sector is at an inflection point as it gears up to supply critical minerals to power the world’s energy transition, as he laid out the case for how the $168 billion giant will reach its stated environmental and social goals.

The global mining powerhouse was thrust into damage control three years ago when it sparked international condemnation after destroying ancient Indigenous rock shelters in West Australia’s Juukan Gorge and, more recently, when confronted by reports that bullying and sexism were systemic across its work sites.

Speaking at the group’s annual general meeting in London on Thursday, chair Dominic Barton said strengthening Rio’s social licence was a key focus last year and the business was now “arguably more relevant and aligned with societal aspirations than we have ever been.”

Meeting the needs of both the energy transition and ongoing global growth raises environmental and societal dilemmas, he said. “As a business and as a society, we need to acknowledge and balance these dilemmas in our decision-making as they involve some difficult trade-offs.”

Miners like Rio play a critical role in supplying the essential minerals – copper, lithium, high-grade iron ore and aluminium – that the globe needs to transition to a low-carbon economy. The world will need eight times the current levels of wind power capacity to meet climate goals by 2050. One 3 megawatt wind turbine requires 300 tonnes of steel, five tonnes of copper, three tons of aluminium, and two tonnes of rare earths.

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“The big question to work through together is: how do we fulfil our role in the energy transition in a way that is socially and environmentally responsible, and yet, sufficiently commercial, to attract the investment required?” Barton said.

Barton added Rio will halve its own emissions and carbon footprint by 2030, reach net-zero by 2050. The miner is also investing in research and new technologies, and embedding cultural change across the group while adopting all 26 recommendations of an independent audit into its cultural and heritage management following the Juukan disaster.

“The industry is at an inflection point – we can be a catalyst of the green economy and potentially of transformative social impacts as we get to the unexplored corners of the world through mining, processing and recycling,” he said.