23 September 2014 

Rio Tinto accelerates productivity drive with world-first technology to enhance mineral recovery

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Rio Tinto is set to capture a crucial advantage in the recovery of mineral deposits, with the launch of its revolutionary three-dimensional mapping technology to reduce costs and improve the efficiency of mining operations.

The new technology supports Rio Tinto’s drive for productivity improvements and cost reductions across its high-quality, low-cost diversified portfolio of assets.

In a world-first under the next phase of its industry-leading Mine of the Future™ programme, Rio Tinto will be able to precisely identify the size, location and quality of ore in real time by retrieving data from automated trucks and drills operating in its mines.

The RTVis™ 3D software provides pinpoint accurate mapping which improves efficiency of mining activity by ensuring it is tightly focused on removing high value ore, significantly reducing both waste and operational costs.

RTVis™ creates 3D images of mine pit activities that previously could not be measured.

RTVis™ has led to greater ore recovery through sharper boundary identification, more accurate drill blasting, reduced explosives, improved waste classification and enhanced dig rates.

Rio Tinto head of innovation John McGagh said “This technology allows us to quickly and easily view, compare and evaluate data to paint a picture of what’s under the ground - it’s like an ultrasound image of the deposit delivered in real time, something that we could never do before.



“RTVis™ is a low-cost application that complements existing group-wide data technology in a way previously never available to enhance our mining operations.

It quickly brings information to a much broader audience - from a single operator in the field to an expert team in the Rio Tinto Operations Centre in Perth.

“Armed with this detailed information, our operations to recover the ore bodies will be significantly more efficient and effective.”

The new 3D technology is deployed at Rio Tinto’s West Angelas iron ore mine in Western Australia and trials are also underway in other Rio Tinto product groups including Copper, Energy and Diamonds and Minerals.

RTVis™ also provides rapid feedback on the impact to equipment while another important benefit is in the area of mine planning, providing much more certainty about the nature of the ore deposit at an earlier stage of the process.

RTVis™ will be demonstrated at the International Mining and Resources Conference in Melbourne from 22-26 September.

Contacts:

Media Relations, EMEA / Americas
Illtud Harri
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1152
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 503 600

David Outhwaite
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1623
Mobile: +44 (0) 7787 597 493

Media Relations, Australia / Asia
Bruce Tobin
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3612
Mobile: +61 (0) 419 103 454

Matthew Klar
Office: +61 (0) 7 3625 4244
Mobile: +61 (0) 457 525 578

Media Relations, Canada
Bryan Tucker
Office: +1 (0) 514 848 8151
Mobile: +1 (0) 514 825 8319

Investor Relations, London
Mark Shannon
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1178
Mobile: +44 (0) 7917 576 597

David Ovington
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 2051
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 010 978

Grant Donald
Office: +44 (0) 20 7781 1262
Mobile: +44 (0) 7920 587 805

Investor Relations, Australia
Christopher Maitland
Office +61 (0) 3 9283 3063
Mobile +61 (0) 459 800 131

Rachel Storrs
Office: +61 (0) 3 9283 3628
Mobile: +61 (0) 417 401 018

Galina Rogova
Office: +852 2839 9208
Mobile: +852 6978 3011

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