24 August 2021
Rio Tinto resumes operations at Richards Bay Minerals
Rio Tinto has today commenced the process of restarting operations at Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) in South Africa. This follows a stabilisation of the security situation around the mine, supported by the national and provincial government, as well as substantive engagement with host communities and their traditional authorities.
Rio Tinto chief executive Minerals Sinead Kaufman said "The safety and security of our people has been our priority throughout and we recognise the collaboration and constructive dialogue we have had with all stakeholders to get us into a position where we can restart operations and resume contributing to the host communities, KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa. I also acknowledge the resilience and dedication shown by all our people at RBM over the past weeks."
Operations will be ramping up to capacity as soon as possible. The overall impact of the suspension of operations, including the shutdown of furnace number 4 as announced on 21 July 2021, is still to be assessed. At this time, the force majeure declared on customer contracts remains in place.
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Media Relations, Australia Jonathan Rose M +61 447 028 913
Matt Chambers M +61 433 525 739
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Investor Relations, Australia Natalie Worley M +61 409 210 462
Amar Jambaa M +61 472 865 948 |
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Rio Tinto Limited Level 7, 360 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 Australia
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This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tinto's Group Company Secretary.
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