Coal & Allied 4QPR2005

Rio Tinto PLC 18 January 2006 Rio Tinto's 75.7 per cent owned subsidiary, Coal & Allied Industries Limited, issued the following news release in Australia. All dollars are Australian currency. Coal & Allied production report for the quarter ended 31 December 2005 4Q 1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q 12 months 12 months '000 tonnes (100% basis) 2004 2005 2005 2005 2005 2004 2005 Hunter Valley Operations Thermal coal production 3,340 2,765 2,497 2,429 2,651 11,172 10,341 Semi-soft coking coal production 308 570 530 555 378 2,097 2,033 Mount Thorley Operations Thermal coal production 817 718 612 836 529 2,762 2,695 Semi-soft coking coal production 129 268 458 261 281 785 1,267 Bengalla Mine Thermal coal production 975 1,430 1,274 1,208 2,053 5,312 5,965 Warkworth Mine Thermal coal production 1,560 1,380 1,335 1,736 1,495 5,552 5,946 Semi-soft coking coal production 239 50 145 85 67 1,403 347 Total coal production 7,368 7,181 6,850 7,110 7,452 29,083 28,594 Total sales ('000 tonnes)(a) 6,835 7,860 6,564 7,088 7,529 28,677 29,042 (a) Sales relate only to coal mined by the operations and exclude traded coal. Production figures are sometimes more precise than the rounded numbers shown, hence small differences may result between the total of the quarter figures and the full year figures. The significant increase in production at Bengalla is the result of mining in an area with thicker coal seams than those mined in previous quarters. Wet weather and a dragline shutdown limited production at Mount Thorley/Warkworth during the quarter. Shipments were in line with the allocation set under the Port Waratah Coal Services capacity balancing system. There was no exploration activity during the quarter. For further information, please contact: LONDON AUSTRALIA Media Relations Media Relations Maria Darby Walker Ian Head Office: +44 (0) 20 7753 2305 Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3620 Mobile: +44 (0) 7725 036 544 Mobile: +61 (0) 408 360 101 Investor Relations Investor Relations Nigel Jones Dave Skinner Office: +44 (0) 20 7753 2401 Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3628 Mobile: +44 (0) 7917 227 365 Mobile: +61 (0) 408 335 309 David Ovington Susie Creswell Office: +44 (0) 20 7753 2326 Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3639 Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 010 978 Mobile: +61 (0) 418 933 792 Website: www.riotinto.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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