Rio Tinto

Rio Tinto is one of the largest mining and metallurgical companies in the world. The company mines iron ore, aluminum, copper, diamonds and minerals. The headquarters of Rio Tinto is located in London, the company has 46 thousand employees in 2021.

2024

China's share of the company's revenue - 60%

As of October 2024

Buying the world's largest lithium producer Arcadium for $6.7 billion

In October 2024, Rio Tinto announced the acquisition of the American lithium manufacturer Arcadium for $6.7 billion. The deal assumes that Rio Tinto will pay $5.85 in free cash for each Arcadium share, which is 90% more than the quotation rate of the company sold the day before the announcement of its sale. Read more here

Madagascar residents sue Rio Tinto over lead and uranium poisoning

In April 2024 Madagascar , residents sue Rio Tinto alleging that the company's mine contaminated nearby lakes and rivers with lead and. uranium

64 residents of the Anosi region accuse the mine, which is majority owned by Rio Tinto, of polluting lakes and waterways, affecting up to 15,000 people who use these water sources for drinking and domestic use. They say the contamination caused high levels of lead in their blood that they needed medical attention.

Rio Tinto denies the allegations and says its water management systems are safe.

2023: Unmanned iron ore train derails

On June 17, 2023, it became known that an unmanned train with 30 freight cars derailed in Australia. A Rio Tinto train was carrying iron ore from a mining operation to the Port of Dampier, which is located in northwestern Western Australia.

According to Rio Tinto, the incident occurred at around 6.30pm on June 17, 2023, causing several train carriages to roll over near the railway line along the Varlu road. As of June 19, local authorities continue to investigate the accident and report that there are no casualties among people.

Unmanned iron ore train derailed

On June 21, 2023, work will begin on the restoration of derailed cars, as notified to the Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator (ONRSR). ONRSR said that according to the initial signs, the onboard systems that controlled the automatic safety of the train functioned as required. According to ONRSR, the loaded train was running at about 75km per hour. Given that the railway line is used only by the mining giant Rio Tinto and other trains do not pass through it, there is an assumption of a violation of the railway track due to various weather events or due to deliberate damage to state property.

Rio Tinto operates about 14 thousand cars on its railway lines in Pilbara, each car can hold up to 118 tons of iron ore. The Australian-British concern Rio Tinto first used an autonomous train to transport iron ore in 2018. According to the company, the autonomous train was developed as part of the AutoHaul project, which implies the development of a network of railways with autonomous freight trains. A company spokesman declined to comment on the possible impact of the incident on iron ore shipments.^[1]

2018: Launch of the world's first unmanned long-distance heavy-lift train

On July 10, 2018, an unmanned train from Australian miner Rio Tinto delivered cargo to its destination for the first time in the world. The three-locomotive train carried about 28,000 tons of iron ore from mining in Tom Price to the Port of Cape Lambert 280 km away.

This train goes on the rails for the second time - in October 2017, it passed 100 km empty, but after 9 months it was entrusted with a real load. The trip was controlled remotely by operators from Perth more than 1500km off the route.

According to Rio Tinto, the train will be fully operational by the end of 2018 and will be the world's first unmanned long-distance freight train, regularly used for its intended purpose. Rio Tinto uses about 200 locomotives running on a track more than 1,700 km long, and automation will significantly reduce the company's costs, although the total project budget since the start of development in 2012 has already reached $940 million.

Rio Tinto launches first long-distance unmanned heavy-lift train

In Western Australia, already 65% of railway highways can accept unmanned trains. However, fully autonomous passenger trains are still a utopian dream despite the rapid development of self-driving cars. Autonomous passenger systems to control the speed, start and stop of human-controlled trains are actively used in Germany, Canada and France, however all have a number of the same drawbacks: these trains do not have obstacle detection systems and are mainly limited to trips on level roads such as metro lines, airport terminals and amusement parks.

The application of long-distance trains without remote control is also difficult - low friction between the metal wheels of the train and the rails does not allow the train to be stopped quickly, so advanced image processing technology will be required to provide complete automation, which will transmit information to all control units at a high speed. These systems must also be continuously maintained by highly skilled personnel, further increasing the costs of their implementation.^[2]

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