15 July
MELBOURNE,
Press Release

Chief executive Tom Albanese said: "Markets remained tough in the second quarter, as expected, particularly in aluminium. The production curtailments announced in January in this product group have started to take effect and are reflected in this report.  We continue to press ahead with actions to reduce costs across the board, align production with demand, and bring down levels of net debt.  We have successfully completed our US$15.2 billion rights issue this month and during the course of this year we have agreed divestments to the value of US$3.7 billion."

Following production cutbacks in response to the sharp fall in demand, bauxite production down 14 per cent, alumina down six per cent and aluminium down five per cent, compared with the second quarter of 2008. Second quarter trading in the aluminium business continued to experience difficult conditions and showed a slight improvement on the first quarter of 2009.

Mined copper production down one per cent on the second quarter of 2008. Recovery in copper grades at Kennecott Utah Copper and Grasberg, offset by lower copper grades and continued operational issues at Escondida.

Refined copper production up 23 per cent on the second quarter of 2008 from improved performance and higher concentrate grades at Kennecott Utah Copper and higher cathode production at Escondida.
Australian hard coking coal down seven per cent on the second quarter of 2008. Australian thermal coal production was up three per cent on the same period.

ALUMINIUM

In the light of very difficult trading conditions, management has implemented a widespread
programme of closures and curtailments to reduce the cost of production. Bauxite production has
been reduced by 5 million tonnes, high cost alumina refining capacity has been cut and a total of
approximately 450 thousand tonnes or 12 per cent of smelting capacity is expected to have been
divested, idled or shut down by the end of 2009, including the anticipated cessation of primary
smelting operations at Anglesey, the Beauharnois closure, and production curtailments at higher
cost smelters in Europe and Canada.

Over 80 per cent of Rio Tinto Alcan’s capacity is positioned in the lower half of the industry cost curve. With these actions, 42 per cent of Rio Tinto Alcan’s smelting capacity in the upper half of the cost curve has been either sold or curtailed.

Cost reduction measures will lead to an improvement in margins against a backdrop of
strengthening Canadian and Australian currencies. These foreign exchange effects, together with
the non-cash impact of balance sheet translation movements and other non cash effects, are
expected to have a negative impact on EBITDA in the first half of 2009.

Bauxite

Second quarter bauxite production was 14 per cent lower than the same quarter of 2008 with
production at Weipa down 19 per cent. In April 2009, Rio Tinto Alcan announced the curtailment of
annual production of bauxite at Weipa to 15 million tonnes (from 20 million tonnes in 2008) due to
the sharp fall in alumina and aluminium demand and prices in recent months. Rio Tinto Alcan’s
share of global bauxite production in 2009 is expected to be approximately 31 million tonnes, a
decline of 11 per cent on 2008.

Alumina

Second quarter alumina production was six per cent lower than the same quarter of 2008.
Following production cuts at the Vaudreuil and Gardanne alumina refineries announced in January
2009, the annual alumina production rate has been reduced by six per cent in 2009 compared with
2008.

The expansion and upgrade of the Sao Luis (Alumar) alumina refinery (Rio Tinto Alcan share 10
per cent) from 1.5 million to 3.5 million tonnes per annum (100 per cent basis) is nearing
completion and first additional production from the expanded facility was realised in June 2009.

Aluminium

Second quarter aluminium production was five per cent lower than the same quarter of 2008. A
steady performance at the low cost Canadian smelters was impacted by production cutbacks in
Canada and Europe and a transformer failure in New Zealand. The ramp-up of the Sohar smelter
in Oman continued on schedule with 90,000 tonnes (100 per cent basis) of metal produced in the
quarter.

Following the sale of the Ningxia smelter in China in January 2009, the closure of the Beauharnois
smelter in Quebec at the end of April 2009, the anticipated cessation of primary smelting
operations at the Anglesey smelter in Wales at the end of September 2009, and various other
curtailments, Rio Tinto Alcan’s aluminium production capacity is expected to be operating at a 12
per cent lower annual run rate by the end of 2009. Production in 2009 is expected to be 3.8 million tonnes (Rio Tinto share), a decline of six per cent compared with 2008.

Alcan downstream businesses

Trading conditions in the Alcan Engineered Products businesses remained difficult during the
second quarter. The economic downturn resulted in a significant decrease in sales volumes in all
sectors leading to higher unit production costs.

On 6 July 2009, Rio Tinto announced that it had reached agreement to sell the Alcan Packaging
Food Americas division for $1.2 billion, of which $200 million may be in the form of shares, to
Bemis Company, Inc. Completion of the transaction remains subject to customary closing
conditions, including regulatory approvals and is expected to occur during the second half of 2009.

On 5 June 2009, Rio Tinto announced that it had entered a non-binding agreement with BHP Billiton to establish a production joint venture of both companies' Western Australian iron ore assets.
During 2009 Rio Tinto has announced divestments totalling $3.7 billion, including $1.2 billion for the Alcan Packaging Food Americas division announced on 6 July.

Rio Tinto successfully completed its $15.2 billion rights issue on 3 July with valid acceptances of 96.97% for Rio Tinto plc and 94.76% for Rio Tinto Limited. The proceeds will be used to pay down Group debt.

About Rio Tinto
 
Rio Tinto is a leading international mining group headquartered in the UK, combining Rio Tinto plc, a London and NYSE listed company, and Rio Tinto Limited, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.

Rio Tinto’s business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, energy (coal and uranium), gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide, salt, talc) and iron ore. Activities span the world but are strongly represented in Australia and North America with significant businesses in South America, Asia, Europe and southern Africa.