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Rio Tinto Group

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Companies

   Rio Tinto
   Rio Tinto Logo
         Type       Public ( LSE: RIO)
       Founded      1873
     Headquarters   Flag of United Kingdom London & Flag of Australia
                    Melbourne
      Key people    Paul Skinner, Chairman
                    R. Leigh Clifford, CEO
                    Guy Elliot, Finance Director
       Industry     Mining
       Products     Coal
                    Iron
                    Copper
                    Uranium
                    Gold
                    Diamonds
       Revenue      $25,440 million ( 2006)
   Operating income $8,974 million ( 2006)
      Net income    $7,867 million ( 2006)
      Employees     32,000 ( 2004)
       Website      www.riotinto.com

   Rio Tinto ( LSE: RIO) is a multinational mining and resources group
   founded originally in 1873. The group is one of the world's largest
   mining companies, with a pre-tax profit of approximately 10.2 billion
   US dollars in 2006 on consolidated turnover of 25.4 billion USD.

   Since 1995, Rio Tinto has been a dual listed company. Rio Tinto
   Limited, formerly known as CRA, is listed on the Australian Stock
   Exchange, with Rio Tinto plc (formerly RTZ) listed on the London Stock
   Exchange as well as New York Stock Exchange (under ticker RTP). The two
   companies are managed as a single economic unit by a unified board,
   with a share in either company entitling the owner to the same voting
   rights and dividend payouts. RTZ shareholders made up 76.7% of the new
   unified entity, which is primarily managed from London.

   Its current chief executive is Leigh Clifford and the company board is
   chaired by Paul Skinner.

History

   Rio Tinto's origins are in southern Spain, at the site of an ancient
   mine which supplied the Roman Empire. In 1873 N M Rothschild & Sons of
   London and de Rothschild Frères of Paris joined with other investors to
   acquire the Spanish government's money-losing Rio Tinto mines. The new
   owners restructured the company and turned it into a profitable
   business. By 1905, the Rothchild interest in Rio Tinto amounted to more
   than 30 percent.

   In 1962 the (British) Rio Tinto Company acquired a majority stake in
   Consolidated Zinc, an Australian company, and was renamed the Rio
   Tinto-Zinc Corporation (RTZ). The Australian company was renamed
   Conzinc Riotinto of Australia (CRA) but retained a separate corporate
   identity, with an increasing proportion of its shares being held by the
   Australian public.

   The current dual listed company structure was created in 1995.

Other commodities

   Rio Tinto owns the Borax company that produces borax and is famous for
   the "20 Mule Team" trademark which it shares with the Dial Corporation.

   Rio Tinto also produces bauxite, gold, titanium, lead, zinc, cobalt,
   nickel and uranium.

Technology

   The company also has a technology group conducting research and
   development, notably including the HIsmelt iron smelting process, and
   an exploration group.

Criticisms

   Environmental, political, safety and labour rights concerns have been
   raised against Rio Tinto by both environmental groups and unions, in
   particular the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).
   The CFMEU ran a campaign against the company which tried to de-unionise
   its workforce after the introduction of the Howard Government's
   Workplace Relations Act 1996.

   Another has been Rio Tinto's involvement in Papua New Guinea which
   triggered the Bougainville separatist crisis. See Lea, David (1999)
   Corporate and Public Responsibility, Stakeholder Theory and the
   Developing World, Business Ethics: A European Review, 8 (3): 151-162.
   While RTZ has put a lot of energy into cleaning up its tainted
   human-right image from the aftermath of crisises like the above, many
   critics feel the company has not substantially changed .

   Rio Tinto has also won an award for ethicial behaviour, the Worldaware
   Award for Sustainable development. However, although this award was
   decided by an independent committee, it was, like some other WorldAware
   Awards, sponsored by another multinational corporation (in this case,
   the sponsor was Tate and Lyle). Rio Tinto has, in turn, sponsored their
   own WorldAware award - the Rio Tinto Award for Long-term Commitment,
   which was awarded to a variety of local and multinational players
   including in 1999 to Shell Pakistan.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Tinto_Group"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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