Rio Tinto announces record financial results and a total dividend of 1,040 US cents per share for 2021, a payout of 79%

Melbourne, Australia–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Jakob Stausholm, Chief Executive of Rio Tinto, said: “Our employees have continued to operate our world-class assets safely and are working hard to improve our operational performance, despite difficult operating conditions due to prolonged disruptions. of COVID-19. The recovery in the global economy, driven by industrial production, resulted in significant price strength for our key commodities, which we were able to capture, achieving record financial results with free cash flow of 17 $.7 billion and underlying earnings of $21.4 billion, after taxes and government fees of $13.0 billion This allows us to pay our highest total dividend to date of 1,040 US cents per share, including a special dividend of 247 US cents per share, representing a payout of 79%.

“With the launch of our new strategy, we have set a new direction for Rio Tinto to thrive in a decarbonizing world. We have a well-positioned portfolio and are targeting disciplined commodity investments that will see strong demand in the decades to come. Our program is an ambitious, multi-year journey that we are determined to see through and we have already taken the first steps, with underground operations underway following the Oyu Tolgoi agreement and a binding agreement to acquire the lithium project. from Rincon in Argentina. continue to evolve and deepen the way we engage and interact with all stakeholders as we work hard to generate and strengthen relationships everywhere we operate. Our actions will enable us to continue to deliver attractive returns to shareholders, to invest in the maintenance and growth of our portfolio and to make a broader contribution to society, particularly with regard to the drive to achieve net emissions. zero carbon.”

• Safety continues to be our top priority: our managed operations resulted in zero fatalities for the third consecutive year. All Injury Frequency Rate deteriorated slightly to 0.40 as fatigue, labor shortages and other COVID-19 pressures increased safety risk in operations day-to-day and we recognize that there is no room for complacency.

• On February 1, 2022, we released a comprehensive external review of our corporate culture, commissioned as part of our commitment to drive lasting cultural change across our global operations. The review is part of the work undertaken by our Everyday Respect Task Force, which was launched in March 2021 to better understand, prevent and respond to harmful behavior in the workplace. We will implement all of the report’s recommendations.

• We continue to focus on rebuilding our relationships with Traditional Owners across our global operations. In September, we published an interim report on our communities and social performance commitments showing our progress. At the end of 2021, the relationship between the management of Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) and Rio Tinto Iron Ore is constructive and thoughtful. Agreement on a co-management approach by country and an appropriate remedy for the destruction of Juukan Gorge has come a long way.

• On February 14, 2022, we announced an agreement with the Yinhawangka Aboriginal Corporation on a new co-designed management plan to ensure the protection of significant social and cultural heritage values ​​as part of our proposed development of the Western Iron Ore Project. Range in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. The Social and Cultural Heritage Management Plan is the result of close collaboration over the past year between the Yinhawangka people and Rio Tinto, including “on-the-ground” visits, archaeological and ethnographic surveys and workshops. Accordingly, the mine was designed to reduce impacts on social and cultural heritage values. We submitted the plan to the Western Australia Environmental Protection Authority on February 1, 2022, as part of our submission for the Greater Paraburdoo Iron Ore Hub proposal.

• In October, we unveiled a longer-term strategy to ensure our prosperity in a decarbonizing world, while continuing to pay attractive dividends, in line with our shareholder return policy. To achieve this, we will accelerate our own decarbonization, grow in materials enabling the global energy transition, and develop products and services that help our customers decarbonize, through our key enablers to become the best operator, excel in development, achieve impeccable ESG performance and strengthen our social license to operate.

• To implement our strategy, we have set a new target to reduce our Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, more than tripling our previous target, and are advancing our reduction of 15% of emissions through 2025 (previously 2030), supported by approximately $7.5 billion in direct investment between 2022 and 2030. These projects produce a range of economic outcomes, but overall they are accretive for a very modest carbon price. More importantly, they preserve the integrity of our long-lived assets and reduce the risk profile of our cash flows. We are accelerating our activity in the Pilbara and expanding our tenure for potential wind and solar sites.

• Following the global agreement announced on January 25, 2022, underground operations are now underway on the Oyu Tolgoi copper/gold project in Mongolia. The agreement will advance the project, reset the relationship between the partners and unlock the most valuable part of the mine, with first sustainable production expected in the first half of 2023.

• In line with our disciplined approach to capital allocation, we made significant progress with our Battery Minerals portfolio in 2021, signing a binding agreement to acquire the Rincon lithium project in Argentina. We have also committed to finance Jadar’s lithium borates project in Serbia, subject to obtaining all relevant approvals, permits and licenses. In January 2022, the government of Serbia canceled the Jadar project space plan and demanded the revocation of all related permits. We are disappointed with this announcement and are committed to exploring all options and reviewing the legal basis for the decision and the implications for our business and our people in Serbia.

• To achieve our ambition to become the best operator, we launched the Rio Tinto Safe Production System at five pilot sites in 2021, focusing on sustainable capacity unlocking. We are already seeing feedback, including significant improvement at the Kennecott hub since its deployment in July. We anticipate a larger program in 2022, subject to COVID-19 constraints, with up to 30 deployments across 15 sites and up to 80 Rapid Improvement Projects, targeting bottlenecks.

The publication of the 2021 annual results is available here

This announcement is authorized for market release by the Corporate Secretary of the Rio Tinto Group.

LEI: 213800YOEO5OQ72G2R82

Classification: 3.1 Additional regulated information required to be disclosed under the law of a Member State