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.
This announcement is authorised for release to the market by Steve Allen, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210824005423/en/
Contacts
Please direct all enquiries to media.enquiries@riotinto.com
Media Relations, UK
Illtud Harri
M +44 7920 503 600
David Outhwaite
M +44 7787 597 493
Media Relations, Americas
Matthew Klar
T +1 514 608 4429
Investor Relations, UK
Menno Sanderse
M: +44 7825 195 178
David Ovington
M +44 7920 010 978
Clare Peever
M +44 7788 967 877
Rio Tinto plc
6 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4AD
United Kingdom
T +44 20 7781 2000
Registered in England
No. 719885
Media Relations, Australia
Jonathan Rose
M +61 447 028 913
Matt Chambers
M +61 433 525 739
Jesse Riseborough
M +61 436 653 412
Investor Relations, Australia
Natalie Worley
M +61 409 210 462
Amar Jambaa
M +61 472 865 948
Rio Tinto Limited
Level 7, 360 Collins Street
Melbourne 3000
Australia
T +61 3 9283 3333
Registered in Australia
ABN 96 004 458 404
riotinto.com
Category: RBM
