Approval of Escondida project

Rio Tinto PLC
06 April 2004

Approval of Escondida sulphide leach copper project


The owners of the Escondida copper mine in northern Chile today announced
approval of the US$870 million (Rio Tinto share US$261 million) Escondida
sulphide leach project in Chile.


The project will produce 180,000 tonnes (Rio Tinto share 54,000 tonnes) of
copper cathode per annum for more than 25 years and is scheduled to begin
production during the second half of 2006.



This investment will enable the processing of an estimated 1.134 billion tonnes
of low grade (0.52 per cent average Cu grade) sulphide material from the
Escondida and Escondida Norte pits which would otherwise be mined as waste.



Water supply will come from a 500 litre per second desalination plant to be
constructed at the Escondida port site of Coloso near Antofagasta, Chile.
Escondida is pioneering the use of desalination for process water in this arid
region of Chile.



The other owners are BHP Billiton, who is also the operator, with a 57.5 per
cent interest in the mine; Japan Escondida Corporation (owned beneficially by
Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Materials Corporation and Nippon Mining and
Metals Company Limited) with a 10 per cent interest; and International Finance
Corporation (2.5 per cent).



The information in this report that relates to ore reserves is based on
information compiled by Dr. Jonathan M. Gilligan Ph.D., B.Sc. (Hons), FGS,
MAusIMM, who is a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
and is a full time employee of Minera Escondida Ltda.  Dr Gilligan has
sufficient experience, which is relevant to the style and type of deposit and to
the activity that he is undertaking to qualify as a Competent Person as defined
in the 1999 edition of the 'Australasian Code for Reporting of Minerals
Resources and Ore Reserve'.  The Competent Person consents to the inclusion in
this report of the matters based on their information in the form and context in
which they appear.





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