Rio Tinto Company Limited
The Rio Tinto Company Limited (RTC) was one of the founding companies of the Rio Tinto Group conglomerate, which was responsible of the exploitation of the Riotinto-Nerva mining basin in Minas de Riotinto between 1873 and 1954.
Image: Logo Rio Tinto Company Limited
Image: Minas de Riotinto, barrio inglés 02
Reproduction of the malacate in the old Peña del Hierro Mine
The Tinto river, after which the company was named, runs rust-colored into the ocean, tinted by minerals
Rio Tinto Group is a British-Australian multinational company that is the world's second largest metals and mining corporation. It was founded in 1873 when a group of investors purchased a mine complex on the Rio Tinto, in Huelva, Spain, from the Spanish government. It has grown through a long series of mergers and acquisitions. Although primarily focused on extraction of minerals, it also has significant operations in refining, particularly the refining of bauxite and iron ore. It has joint head offices in London, England and Melbourne, Australia.
Rio Tinto headquarters in Melbourne, Australia
The company's name comes from the Rio Tinto in south-western Spain.
Hugh Matheson led the purchase of the Rio Tinto mines from Spain, and was the company's first president.
Pyrite was a major product of Rio Tinto's first mines.
