We’re on a mission to become the world’s most valued metals and mining business – for the people who invest in us, the people we work and partner with, and the communities around us
Our business
We operate in 35 countries where our 60,000+ employees are working to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs
Our purpose in action
Continuous improvement and innovation are part of our DNA
Innovation
The need for innovation is greater than ever
All progress begins with pioneers. At Rio Tinto, it begins with you.
We supply the metals and minerals used to help the world grow and decarbonise
Iron Ore
The primary raw material used to make steel, which is strong, long-lasting and cost-efficient
Lithium
The lightest of all metals, it is a key element needed for low-carbon technologies
Copper
Tough but malleable, corrosion-resistant and recyclable, and an excellent conductor of heat and transmitter of electricity
Bringing to market materials critical to urbanisation and the transition to a low-carbon economy
Oyu Tolgoi
One of the most modern, safe and sustainable operations in the world
Simandou Project
The world’s largest untapped high-grade iron ore deposit
Western Australia
While iron ore is central to our operations in WA, we have a diverse presence across the state, from salt, lithium, our diamond legacy and our promising copper-gold project
Providing materials the world needs in a responsible way
Climate Change
We’re targeting net zero emissions by 2050
Nature solutions
Our nature-based solutions projects complement the work we're doing to reduce our Scope 1 and 2 emissions
Enabling ESG transparency
Our START™ initiative tracks traceability and responsible production of Rio Tinto materials.
We aim to deliver superior returns to our shareholders while safeguarding the environment and meeting our obligations to wider society
Bank of America Global Metals Mining Steel Conference 2026
Miami, 12 May 2026
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Things You Can't Live Without
Our podcast discussing what needs to happen to create a sustainable future for the everyday items we have come to rely on
Closing the aluminium loop
How we keep aluminium in use
Supporting the circular economy
We work and partner to keep resources in use for a more circular future
Discover more about life at Rio Tinto
Graduates and interns
If you want to drive real change, we have just the place to do it
In-house consulting
Discover how our in-house consultancy team, PACE, offers a unique opportunity to help shape Rio Tinto from the inside
Available jobs
Join our team
Water is essential to life. It is inherently linked to healthy, thriving ecosystems and communities, and holds spiritual significance to First Nations and Land-Connected people around the world. Water is also an essential resource for our operations, enabling safe access to ore bodies and processing of ore to provide the materials the world needs.
As water is a finite shared resource, responsible water stewardship is linked to our success. Protecting water helps keep it available and clean for the ecosystems and communities that depend on it. It also supports stable and sustainable operations for the long term. Efficiently managing water is more important than ever, with more extreme, and disrupted, weather patterns happening.
Our Environment Standards outline the minimum requirements for all of our managed assets. These standards include our position and commitment to responsible water management and environmental stewardship. Learn more about our approach to environmental commitments, governance, risk, assurance, performance and targets.
Managing water safely and responsibly is an important part of how we run our business. Our water risk framework is designed to ensure that water management is both operationally effective and strategically aligned with our environmental commitments and stakeholder expectations. Water is also incorporated within the principal environment risk we track at a corporate level.
As we operate in many different places and climates, each of our sites face different water challenges. To manage water impacts across our portfolio, we have developed a water risk framework and associated control library to consistently identify, assess, manage and communicate water risk. This risk framework is embedded in our assets’ approach to operational risk management. It covers 4 categories:
We use the framework to assess risk across our portfolio and we share asset-level data from this assessment in our Sustainability Fact Book. This information reflects our commitment to transparency as it goes beyond regulatory reporting requirements to enable visibility of the variety of risks we manage. A summary of our 2025 risk profile is also in our Annual Report.
We recognise our role in contributing to responsible water management at a catchment scale. This is embedded in the way we apply our water risk framework in consideration of both internal and external potential impact. It is also reflected in our commitment to supporting effective regulation, and through the partnerships and initiatives we support and value.
Several of our assets are located in catchments with concentrated industrial development, and we participate in programs that aim to improve how cumulative impacts are understood or managed at a catchment scale. For example, in Gladstone, Australia, we take part in Regional Environmental Monitoring. And in the Pilbara, Australia we’ve established monitoring partnerships with other proponents.. In other areas we manage regional scale infrastructure and strive to maintain open and collaborative engagement with catchment stakeholders. For example, Nechako Valley in British Columbia, and Saguenay Lac-St-Jean in Quebec).
Our aluminium operations in Gladstone, Queensland, Australia, are supplied with water from Awoonga Dam. Water restrictions could be imposed on the supply in the event of a persistent drought. The water resource risk for these operations is assessed as high.
Our ilmenite mine near Havre-Saint-Pierre, in Quebec, Canada is surrounded by ecologically and socially significant lakes and water features. The quality and quantity risk for HSP mine is assessed as high and excess water from the mine needs to be carefully managed. To ensure water is released to the environment at a suitable quality, we are working on a multi-year water management improvement project.
Impacts associated with dewatering and water supply activities in the Pilbara are recognised as a very high risk for our business. Returning water to the aquifers impacted by our mining activities in a controlled manner is the focus of a number of studies. We are working with Traditional Owners on water management.
We may sometimes generate impacts that we are required to manage over the long term, such as post-closure pit lakes in the Pilbara, or potential seepage from our waste rock or tailings facilities in our aluminium and copper sites. Our systems and standards aim to ensure that risks are identified early and managed appropriately and responsibly throughout the asset lifecycle.
Water interfaces with many disciplines, and we are careful to align and integrate our approach with how we manage water and tailings facilities, communities and social performance. and closure.
Aqueduct Water Risk Atlas to:
We use the WRI data and take a forward view, analysing water stress based on projected 2030 conditions, incorporating allowances for climate change. Asset-level ratings for 2030 water stress and associated performance data for our 9 water stressed assets (ranked high or above) is provided as part of our annual Sustainability Fact Book.
Based on our analysis of the WRI Aqueduct 2030 water stress assessment, there are 16 assets (23%) where 2030 water stress is rated as high or above. This includes our operating sites and development projects. Excluding projects, there 11 assets (19%) where 2030 water stress is rated as high or above. This includes 5 mines (Kennecott, Oyu Tolgoi, Hope Downs, Dampier Salt, Boron) and 4 facilities (an aluminium facility in Strathcona, Canada; a distribution centre in Europe; a port in Wilmington, USA; and a metals facility in Suzhou, China).
Our approach includes:
Sustainability reporting
We’ve maintained water targets for more than 20 years. Our most recent water target program covered the period 2019-2023 and comprised one company-wide target and 6 site based targets. For information about the previous water targets refer to our 2023 Annual Report. Our new suite of nature SIPs incorporates targets relating to water.
While we recognise that company-wide water efficiency targets can contribute to positive outcomes, and we have set and completed such targets in the past, our modern target program follows a different approach. We aim to promote context-based improvements through meaningful engagement with our stakeholders, enabled by transparency and data disclosure. This reflects the complexity and local nature of water management issues.
Find out more information about our nature targets program and Site Improvement Plans.
We share water with first nations peoples, local communities and ecosystems surrounding our operations, and therefore need to avoid permanent impacts on water resources including lakes, streams and groundwater aquifers. We do this by carefully tracking the quality and quantity of water managed by our operations and balancing our water needs with that of our stakeholders.
We are among the most transparent in the industry regarding our water stewardship. On 22 March 2023 we disclosed our operations' surface water allocation, latest annual water usage and the associated average catchment rainfall runoff, as well as a 5-year view on historical annual water usage. The information is available through an interactive platform, searchable by location, operation or project.
With catchments recognised as a proxy for community and environment interdependencies, our disclosure is a platform to expand our foundation of trust with our stakeholders, further develop our understanding of cumulative and indirect catchment impacts and align with our commitment to the ICMM water position statement.
We are committed to building on this disclosure, including information about groundwater withdrawals and the receiving environment through our nature target program.