AGM Statement

Rio Tinto PLC
11 April 2002



                             Annual General Meeting





At today's annual general meeting of Rio Tinto plc shareholders in London,
chairman Sir Robert Wilson said Rio Tinto's diversity and quality of assets and
the commitment of its people had enabled the company to report record earnings
in the face of the most severe decline in demand in 20 years.



'Those of you here last year may recall me saying that I could not give you a
confident view of the economic outlook because it was clear that the
international economy - and especially that of the United States - was slowing
down.  Some thought I was too pessimistic but with hindsight, and even before
the horrifying events of 11 September, I was probably too optimistic. In short,
the synchronised downturn in the major economies last year resulted in the most
severe decline in demand for many metals for at least 20 years.



'But the diversity and quality of Rio Tinto's assets together with the
commitment of its people provide some protection against adverse economic
conditions.  I don't think many in the business world have been able to report
record underlying earnings under the circumstances.



'In 2001, Rio Tinto achieved a ten per cent increase in adjusted earnings to a
record 1.66 billion dollars and our operating cash flow in the year was 3.4
billion dollars, another reflection of our robust performance.



'Our bulk commodities were the main sources of improvement, partly as a result
of the recent acquisitions and partly of higher prices for both iron ore and
coal. As a result, the Energy and Iron Ore product groups contributed earnings
of 875 million dollars, a 38 per cent increase on the previous year. The
contribution from copper and aluminium was 13 per cent down, which was rather
less than the average fall in prices for those metals. Despite the weak demand
environment, our Industrial Minerals earnings were in line with the previous
year. Overall, the continued weakness of many currencies in which we incur our
costs helped to mitigate the effects of price weakness.



'The acquisitions we made in 2000 and 2001 performed considerably better than we
had expected in their first year in the Group. After financing costs, they made
an incremental contribution to earnings of around 120 million dollars. Leigh
will indicate shortly that we believe the best is yet to come from these new
assets.



'As you know, we have long had a strategy of seeking world class, large scale,
low cost operations. We don't choose investment projects on the basis of
product, but rather because we expect them to generate strong cash flow even
when prices are depressed. By consistently pursuing this strategy over many
years, we have established a spread of currency and commodity exposures, which
help us to withstand adverse conditions in any one market. As you can see from
this pie chart all the product groups contributed substantial earnings.



'With almost 85 per cent of our operating assets in Australasia or North
America, we have strong roots in politically stable regions.  These are good
foundations on which to continue to build our portfolio and help to meet the
growing world needs for metals and minerals.



'The strength and resilience of our business in recent years is shown well by
our strong margins. In 2001, our margin - that is the ratio of earnings before
interest and tax to sales revenue - grew slightly, to almost 30 per cent.



'The trend of margins against prices over the past ten years has been
impressive.  In the early 1990s we had some lower margin businesses that we
divested.  But from the mid 1990s, while prices have trended downwards, margins
have continued to rise. The principal reason for this has been our constant
search for business improvement.



'So, in many respects 2001 was an extraordinary year.  Sharply deteriorating
economic conditions coincided with record earnings.  That this was possible is
in part a reflection of the success of our strategy with all its inbuilt
balances.  But I am not going to suggest to you that this makes Rio Tinto
recession proof.  Practically no business is.



'We were helped last year by some external factors. For example, the power
shortages in the Pacific Northwest forced cuts in competitors' aluminium
production and, of course, the coal market was particularly buoyant.
Nonetheless, I hope you would all agree that our earnings performance was highly
satisfactory.'





Chief Executive Leigh Clifford went on to outline progress made by the
acquisitions of 2000 and 2001.



'You will recall that we invested over 4 billion dollars in 2000 and 2001 on
acquisitions. This included the minorities in Comalco and Argyle Diamonds, both
existing Group businesses, as well as opportunities we saw elsewhere to add
value, by acquiring North and its iron ore businesses and Exxon and Peabody's
Australian coal mines. We also acquired salt and talc interests in Australia to
complement our global industrial minerals businesses. In addition, we
consolidated our positions in existing businesses, like Coal & Allied, and
divested some non-core assets.



'I will focus today on the iron ore and coal businesses as they presented
opportunities for exploiting synergies that are somewhat unusual in today's
mining industry.  First, we were able to avoid capital spending. And secondly,
there was the potential for a range of operating synergies, including technical
and support services.  At the same time, and I am really pleased to be able to
say this, we have also seen significant reductions in lost time injuries.



'We are already realising some of these synergies in rail, power and purchasing.



'Not duplicating the railway for West Angelas saved 110 million dollars in
capital expenditure. We have also achieved a reduction of 20 per cent in train
loading times at Robe River's existing operation. Moreover, by forming an
operating joint venture to run the iron ore rail system in Western Australia,
another level of operating savings is beginning to be realised. The Pilbara Rail
Company will run with 100 less people than the two separate railways and allow
Hamersley and Robe to share significant operating cost savings.



'Electricity for West Angelas will be supplied through the Hamersley grid thus
avoiding the higher cost of on-site diesel generation. In the future, we also
see considerable benefits in more widely sharing power between Robe and
Hamersley to the advantage of both.



'On procurement, we have been able to rationalise Robe's mining fleet and
engender economies of scale in some purchasing contracts.



'Looking slightly further ahead, we see the potential to save further capital by
shipping West Angelas ore through Hamersley ports and vice versa. And there is
also the potential to manage ore grade issues and extend the resource base.



'So, while we are already seeing some of the expected benefits of acquiring the
North iron ore businesses, we also know the prize is considerably greater if we
continue to get it right.



'Integration has gone well following the major investments we made in Australian
coal last year. All the newly acquired mines are producing at higher rates than
assumed at the time of acquisition. There has also been a significant reduction
in the number of injuries.  Some of the peripheral assets have been sold but the
overall result is a doubling of Coal & Allied's production capability in the
Hunter Valley to more than 36 million tonnes.  The company now manages roughly
one third of all coal exports from the Hunter Valley of New South Wales.



'By the end of 2001, Coal & Allied had made significant operating cost savings
through lower freight charges, better equipment utilisation, reduced manning and
closure of the Peabody Sydney office. However, the more significant value
enhancing opportunities are still to come.



'The first of these is to integrate fully the Mount Thorley and Warkworth mines.
  Some equipment sharing has begun and this will increase as mine plans are
optimised to take advantage of unused capacity at Mount Thorley's coal
preparation plant. Their full integration requires agreement with the various
joint venturers, which we hope to have by this time next year.



'Further down the track is the possible development of the Mount Pleasant and
Bengalla resources.  Mount Pleasant is a very attractive resource in its own
right but even more so if developed in combination with Bengalla.



'Taken as a whole, then, and although we have achieved more than we expected at
this stage of their integration, there is quite a lot to come as a result of the
acquisitions we have made.



'While last year we concentrated on integration of acquisitions, growth for Rio
Tinto over time can take many forms. We certainly don't limit ourselves to any
single path.



'Greenfield projects, such as the Hail Creek coal mine or the Comalco alumina
refinery, remain an important avenue for growth.



'We also have significant brownfield potential at our existing operations.



'These include the underground copper mine at Palabora and Hamersley's ten
million tonne per year iron ore supply joint venture with Shanghai Baosteel,
China's largest iron and steel maker. This involves the development of a new
mine close to the existing Paraburdoo mine by 2004.



'Our exploration and technology efforts are also bearing fruit. The discovery
and subsequent development of Diavik Diamonds in Canada is but one example from
an exploration portfolio that I believe now shows more promise than for many
years.



'Research and development in our industry may not capture the imagination as
much as exploration. But, it has given us the proprietary upgraded slag
technology at QIT in Canada, enabling us to benefit from the demand for higher
grade titanium dioxide feedstock.



'Regardless of where the growth comes from, Rio Tinto will always remain focused
on value creating investments through the business cycle.'





Sir Robert then spoke about the importance of delivering results for
shareholders.



'Simply saying that the purpose of this or any other business is to create
shareholder value is easy; but, of course, it is delivering the result that
counts. Our disciplined focus on performance has been reflected in the earnings
we have achieved over time.



'Many of you will have heard me speak before about our total shareholder return
(that is, share price increase plus dividends) compared with our peers in the
mining industry. You may have noticed this chart buried in the annual report.
Whilst past performance cannot of course be relied upon as a guide to the
future, it does show that we have again appeared in the top quartile for the
fifth consecutive period and above the median in all of the 15, four-year
periods we have measured.  No other company in this group of comparators has
matched that.



'Another way of showing our performance is in this chart of Rio Tinto's position
versus the HSBC Global Mining Index.  As you can see, we have outperformed this
index by eight per cent a year compound throughout the last decade.



'Let me turn from the past to the present and the future.  Since the start of
the year the US economy seems to have begun to recover, although we have seen
little evidence of improvement in our markets. This may be because the recovery
has been led by consumer spending rather than by fixed investment and industrial
production.



'As we said at the time of the results, we remain cautious about the strength
and pace of the recovery in the US, but the forward indicators are becoming more
encouraging. Elsewhere, Europe and especially Japan remain some way behind the
US in their respective cycles.  And, as in 2001, China continues to provide
welcome support to our markets, particularly iron ore and copper.



'In summary then, there is a reasonable prospect of gradual strengthening of
demand for our products as the year progresses.



'Because we have a lengthy formal agenda, I can make no more than a fleeting
reference to the Global Mining Initiative in which Rio Tinto has played a
leading role.



'The GMI flowed from a meeting some three years ago in our offices of a group of
Chairmen or CEO's of many of the world's leading mining and metals companies to
discuss the challenges our industry faces.



'It led us to initiate a project designed to search for better means of
reconciling the three aspects of the contemporary sustainable development agenda
- namely, the economic, the environmental and the social.



'There is, I believe, a determination amongst leading companies in our industry
to improve our performance in sustainable development with all its challenges
and opportunities. We think that this project will result in different
approaches at both at the individual company and industry level.



'Equally it is clear that industry on its own cannot find all the solutions.
Others such as governments and community representatives also need to be
actively engaged and committed to the process.  The prize for shareholders, if
the initiative succeeds, will amongst other things be reduced business risk.



'The first strand of the project was to sponsor a major independent analysis
called Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development.  This was conducted under
the auspices of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.  It was
essential that we drew in other sponsors, who came from intergovernmental
organisations such as the World Bank and parts of the UN, several governments
including those of Britain, Canada and Australia and a number of NGO's and
charitable foundations.



'MMSD has been a hugely ambitious exercise involving the independent analysts in
meetings with interested parties all around the world.  The final report is now
in draft form on the web - all 560 pages of it - and in my view has proven to be
a very worthwhile exercise.  It contains a large number of proposals about the
future of our industry and we, like others in the sector, are formulating our
response to them.



'A second important aspect of the GMI was to establish a new top-level industry
organisation to provide a vehicle for carrying forward the outcomes of the MMSD
project.  This is now in place, the International Council for Mining and Metals,
and its Secretary General has been appointed.  We selected for the post an
eminent American environmentalist, Dr Jay Hair.  This unconventional appointment
is just what the industry needs and gives me considerable hope that the mining
and metals industry will emerge as one of the leading sectors in addressing the
challenges of sustainable development in an intelligent and coherent fashion.'





For further information, please contact:


LONDON                                                  AUSTRALIA
Media Relations                                         Media Relations

Lisa Cullimore                                          Ian Head

+ 44 (0) 20 7753 2305                                   [phone]
Investor Relations                                      Investor Relations

Peter Cunningham                                        Dave Skinner

+ 44 (0) 20 7753 2401                                   [phone]

                                                        Daphne Morros

                                                        [phone]



Website: www.riotinto.com



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