New chief executive

Rio Tinto PLC
05 December 2006

Rio Tinto appoints new chief executive



The boards of Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited announced today that Tom
Albanese will succeed Leigh Clifford as chief executive of Rio Tinto with effect
from 1 May 2007, following the annual general meetings to be held in April.



Tom, who is 49 and a US citizen, graduated in mineral economics and mining
engineering from the University of Alaska. He joined Rio Tinto in 1993 and has
had a succession of senior positions including chief executive roles in the
Group's Industrial Minerals and Copper businesses and also as head of
Exploration. He was appointed to the boards in March 2006 and currently holds
the position of director, Group Resources.



Rio Tinto chairman Paul Skinner said: 'The board is very pleased to appoint Tom
Albanese to lead the next phase of Rio Tinto's development. He brings wide
experience of the mining industry developed in a sequence of challenging
technical, operational and strategic roles.  Tom has been a key player in a
number of major Rio Tinto developments over recent years and also in shaping the
Group's strategic direction.'



Paul paid tribute to Leigh's long service to Rio Tinto: 'Leigh has made an
outstanding contribution to Rio Tinto over a 37 year career with the Group.
During his seven years as chief executive the Group has seen strong growth in
profitability and important advances in operational performance. He has been
instrumental in developing the Group's position in key markets, notably in Asia,
and in major acquisitions which have added significant shareholder value.'





Notes to editors



Tom Albanese was born in 1957 and grew up in New Jersey. He attended the
University of Alaska in Fairbanks where he received a bachelor's degree in
mineral economics and a master's degree in mining engineering.



He held a number of positions with Nerco Minerals, and was chief operating
officer at the time of its acquisition by Rio Tinto in 1993.



Later that year he was appointed general manager of Rio Tinto's Greens Creek
gold, silver, zinc and lead mine on Admiralty Island, Alaska, where he led a
team that was working to develop a newly discovered high grade orebody at the
mine.



He moved to London in 1995 where he took up the post of Group exploration
executive. Three years later he became vice president of Kennecott Utah Copper
at the Bingham Canyon copper mine outside Salt Lake City.



When Rio Tinto acquired a majority holding in North Ltd in Australia in 2000 Tom
transferred to Melbourne as its managing director. In this role he oversaw
strategic reviews of North's operations and the integration of its key
businesses into Rio Tinto's product group structure.



He was appointed chief executive of Rio Tinto's Industrial Minerals group based
in London, with responsibility for the Group's borates, talc and titanium
dioxide operations, before becoming chief executive, Copper and Exploration, in
2004.



He joined the board of directors in March, 2006 and became director, Group
Resources in July, with responsibility for Exploration, Operational and
Technical Excellence, Human Resources, Communications and External Relations and
Global Business Services.



Recently Tom has been involved in developing the joint venture exploration
agreement with Norilsk Nickel in Russia, and in Rio Tinto's investments in La
Granja in Peru and Ivanhoe Mining's Oyu Tolgoi copper project in Mongolia.



Tom lives in London and is married with two children.





For further information, please contact:

LONDON                                               AUSTRALIA

Media Relations                                      Media Relations

Nick Cobban                                          Ian Head
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


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