The document summarizes a presentation given by John McGagh of Rio Tinto on innovations in mining. It discusses how innovation can improve productivity in areas like safety, ore recovery, and energy use. It outlines challenges like declining productivity in the Australian mining sector. It then details Rio Tinto's Mine of the Future program which uses automation, advanced technologies, and integrated systems to improve exploration, development, operations, and recovery in more productive and safer ways. Protecting intellectual property is key to sustaining the competitive advantages these innovations provide.

1. Resources and Energy Symposium
John McGagh
Head of Innovation
22 May 2012

2. Why Innovate?
Improve Productivity, to ..
• Improve safety
• Find new ore bodies
• Improve recovery rates
• Recover from difficult ore
bodies
• Remove process waste
• Improve capital productivity
• Improve labour productivity
• Reduce energy use
22 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 2

3. The productivity challenge
The Productivity Commission report indicates declining multi-factor
productivity is a challenge for the Australian mining sector
Index of mining industry yield (1974-75 to 2006-07)
31 May 2012 [Name of conference] 3

4. Demand outlook
Shenzhen 1982 Shenzhen 2007
22 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 4

5. Supply picture
22 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 5

6. Rio Tinto’s Mine of the Future™ programme
How we will:
Explore better.
Exploit the resource better.
Go underground deeper,
and faster.
Recover more from
difficult deposits.
And achieve all of the
above more safely
22 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 6

7. Rio Tinto Innovation network model Rio Tinto presence
No presence
5 3
6& 2&
1 4 2
1 8
Europe
North
America Asia
1
Africa 6
Rio Tinto centres Technology partnerships
Formal long term (around 5 years) Strategic partnerships and MoUs
alliances with world class institutions with leading global suppliers to help
provide Rio Tinto access to stable develop technology to commercial
research resources to pursue targeted outcomes.
1 Komatsu
Rio Tinto programmes.
1 Centre for Underground Mine Construction 2 Aker Wirth
2 Centre for Advanced Mineral Recovery 3 Atlas Copco
4
1
7 3
1
3 Centre for Materials and Sensing 4 e2v
5
1
4 Centre for Advanced Mineral Sorting 5 Tomra
Australasia
5 Centre for Mine Automation 6 University of Nottingham
6 Innovation Centre 7 University of Western Australia
8 Herrenknecht
7
22 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved

8. Protecting our intellectual property
Idea Proof of Pilot Demo Deploy Support
Concept
• Structured control & governance
• Data management & security
• Rigorous investment proposals
• Freedom-to-operate
• Patent families and walls
• Trade secrets, copyright & trademarks,
individual contracts Innovation without intellectual
property protection is
philanthropy
22 May 2012
© 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 8

9. Innovative technologies are a key differentiator
Our Mine of the FutureTM is shaped by four significant value levers
Find Develop Mine Recover
• Find future tier one • Develop future block • Optimise resource • Recover more from
ore bodies cave mines safer, productivity mineral deposits
• VK1 in initial flight faster, better • Expansion of • IronX™ iron ore
trials • Tunnel boring system driverless truck fleet recovery pilot plant to
• Complex testing trials to commence at • Operations Centre be scaled up in 2012
programme in 2012 Northparkes in 2012 • Smart drilling and • NuWave™ copper
blasting sorting pilot plant
• Autonomous trains being commissioned
(AutoHaul™) at KUC
Innovation networks created through long term strategic alliances
Protection of Intellectual Property is key to sustaining competitive advantage
9

10. Mine of the Future™ – surface
2008 2008 2010 2010/11 2012 2012
Atlas Copco Alliance Automated train Drillers Aid trial Automated drills trial Cab-less Drill Advanced Survey
trial
2007 2009/10 2010 2011 2012
Trials starts on the Operations Automated trucks Operations Centre Komatsu MOU for 150 Automated Train
Centre Automated truck project Pilbara ‘A Pit’ trial commissioned autonomous trucks Deployment
starts in Western Australia deployment
22 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 10

11. Mine of the Future™ mining practice
Closed process loops – machine coordinated/driven
Unprecedented Precision & Control
• Holistic view of the operations
• Integration of islands of autonomy
• Integrated, near real-time information
• Remote supervision & operation
• Improve decision making
• High levels of predictability
• Improved productivity and profitability
• Improved safety
22 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 11

12. Operations Centre: aligning systems…
22 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 12

13. …for greater productivity
Reduce schedule variability
(2008 = 100) The integrated model has given far better
end-to-end visibility of the value chain
100
66
• Reduced schedule variability by
52 53 • More reliable planning and
execution functions
• Managing scheduling deviations
2008 Average 2009 Average 2010 Average 2011 Average
• Improved train dumper productivity by
Improved train dumper productivity • Our ability to keep trains
(2008 = 100)
scheduled to the system
127 131 bottleneck (in-load)
•
115
100 Tonnage throughput at dumpers
2008 Average 2009 Average 2010 Average 2011 Average
22 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 13

14. Automation can address declining productivity
• Investment in automation technology can
address declining productivity in the mining
sector
• Step-change innovations can deliver process
and systems efficiencies and significantly
reduce the risks to human health and safety,
as well as delivering process and systems
efficiencies, and environmental benefits
• This investment may sustain Australia’s longer-
term competitiveness in the mining industry
31 May 2012 © 2012, Rio Tinto, All Rights Reserved 14

15. Questions?