Coal & Allied Half Yr Results

Rio Tinto PLC
01 August 2007

Rio Tinto's 75.7 per cent owned subsidiary, Coal & Allied Industries Limited,
issued the following news release in Australia yesterday. All dollars are
Australian currency.

Coal chain constraints and flooding impact Coal & Allied profits - 2007 half
year results

SUMMARY

•  Revenue was $656.8 million compared with $732.6 million for the same period 
   last year.

•  Net profit after tax was $70.0 million compared with $148.6 million for the 
   same period last year.  This net profit benefited from a one-off income tax 
   adjustment of $46.1 million.

•  Coal & Allied's share of production was down 21.8 per cent to 8.6 million 
   tonnes (from 11.0 million tonnes in 2006).

•  No dividend will be paid on ordinary shares.

Commenting on the company's performance, Coal & Allied's Managing Director, Mr
Doug Ritchie said, 'Coal & Allied's net profit after tax of $70 million was
helped by a one-off income tax adjustment of $46 million.  The underlying result
of $24 million reflects the difficulties arising from the poor performance of
the Hunter Valley coal chain and the impact of floods on our operations in 
June.'

'Coal & Allied's share of production in the first half of 2007 was down nearly
22 per cent compared with 2006, despite record prices for thermal coal.  Sharp
increases in demurrage costs resulting from the ship queues off Newcastle and
the strengthening of the Australian dollar also adversely impacted the company's
result.

'Infrastructure issues continued to impact Coal & Allied's financial performance
and until a satisfactory long term commercial framework is put in place there is
unlikely to be any significant improvement in this performance.

'Coal & Allied supports Port Waratah Coal Services (PWCS) new proposal to
implement a long-term commercial framework that will provide greater certainty
for PWCS and its long term customers.

'We also encourage the efforts of PWCS to have the existing 'common user' lease
provisions removed.  It is critical that PWCS achieves these recently announced
initiatives to bring long-term benefits to all producers,' Mr Ritchie said.

Infrastructure

PWCS is seeking confirmation from the NSW Government that it will agree to the
removal of the 'common user' lease provisions at the PWCS Kooragang Island
facility in the event the Newcastle Coal Infrastructure Group (NCIG) facility is
developed.

In addition, PWCS is planning to expand its operations further and increase
exports from 102 million tonnes per annum to 113 million tonnes per annum.  This
will provide long-term customers with additional port capacity for growth.  The
additional expansion includes improvements to two receival and three stacking
streams, installation of a new reclaimer and stacker, integrity work and the
replacement of two of the original terminal reclaimers.

Summary of financial performance

Coal & Allied's results for the first half of 2007 compared with the same period
of 2006:

                                                                                  Half-year ended 30 June
                                                                                       2007          2006
Revenue ($ millions)                                                                  656.8         732.6
Net profit after tax ($ millions)                                                      70.0         148.6
Operating cash flow ($ millions)                                                        1.7          88.3
Dividends (cents per share)                                                               -           110
Coal & Allied equity share of coal production (million tonnes)                          8.6          11.0
Coal & Allied equity share of coal shipments (million tonnes)1                          9.3          10.6


1 Shipments exclude purchased coal.

Sales revenue

Sales revenue of $656.8 million was 10 per cent lower than for the comparative
period of 2006, due to a reduction in the allocated port capacity and severe
weather in the Hunter Valley in June which disrupted port, rail and mining
operations.

Net profit after tax

Coal & Allied's net profit after tax reflects lower sales volumes.  Higher coal
prices were offset by a stronger performance by the Australian dollar relative
to the US dollar and higher demurrage costs.

Cash flow

Net operating cash flow of $1.7 million was attributable to lower operating
profits and higher finance charges from increased debt levels.

Dividends

No dividends will be paid on ordinary shares after taking into account the cash
flow for the half year and the current gearing level.

Debt

Gearing (net debt to net debt + equity) was 28.8 per cent at 30 June 2007,
compared with 25.7 per cent at 31 December 2006.

Capital expenditure

Capital expenditure for the half year was $59.4 million compared with $40.4
million for the same period last year.  The main expenditure for the first half
of 2007 was for replacement of heavy mobile equipment.

Force majeure

The severe weather conditions affecting the Hunter Valley and the Port of
Newcastle in June resulted in the company declaring force majeure under its
sales contracts. On 27 July 2007 the company advised its customers it was no
longer affected by this force majeure event.

All financial information contained in this release has been prepared on the
basis of the Australian Equivalents to International Financial Reporting
Standards and Interpretations.



For further information, please contact:

LONDON                                   AUSTRALIA

Media Relations                          Media Relations
Christina Mills                          Ian Head
Office: [phone]             Office:  [phone]
Mobile: [phone]             Mobile: [phone]


Nick Cobban                              Amanda Buckley
Office:  [phone]            Office:  [phone]
Mobile: [phone]             Mobile: [phone]
Investor Relations                       Investor Relations

Nigel Jones                              Dave Skinner
Office: [phone]             Office:  [phone]
Mobile: [phone]             Mobile: [phone]

David Ovington                           Susie Creswell
Office:  [phone]            Office:  [phone]
Mobile: [phone]             Mobile: [phone]

Website: www.riotinto.com
High resolution photographs available at: www.newscast.co.uk

                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange