SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, DC 20549
FORM SD
Specialized Disclosure Report
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Commission file number: 001-10533 |
Commission file number: 000-20122 |
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Rio Tinto plc |
Rio Tinto Limited |
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ABN 96 004 458 404 |
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(Translation of registrant’s name into English) |
(Translation of registrant’s name into English) |
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2 Eastbourne Terrace |
Level 33, 120 Collins Street |
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London, W2 6LG, United Kingdom |
Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia |
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(Address of principal executive offices) |
(Address of principal executive offices) |
Julie Parent, T: 514-848-8519
(Name and telephone number, including area code, of the person
to contact in connection with this report)
Check the appropriate box to indicate the rule pursuant to which this form is being filed, and provide the period to which the information in this form applies:
_X_ Rule 13p-1 under the Securities Exchange Act (17 CFR 240.13p-1) for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2013.
Section 1 - Conflict Minerals Disclosure
Item 1.01 Conflict Minerals Disclosure and Report
Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited ( together, “Rio Tinto” or “Group”) are required to comply with Rule 13p-1 under the Securities Act of 1934 (“Rule”) for the reporting period from January 1 to December 31, 2013. The Rule was adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to implement reporting and disclosure requirements related to conflict minerals as directed by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 (“Dodd-Frank Act”). Rio Tinto's business is finding, mining, and processing mineral resources. Major products are aluminium, copper, diamonds, thermal and metallurgical coal, uranium, gold, industrial minerals (borax, titanium dioxide and salt) and iron ore.
Rio Tinto undertook an initial assessment of all of Rio Tinto’s products and identified three subsidiaries of Rio Tinto that are within the scope of the Rule: Kennecott Utah Copper LLC (“Kennecott”); E.C.L. (“ECL”); and RTA Alesa AG (“Alesa”). Information about each of these subsidiaries and the Reasonable Country of Origin Inquiry (“RCOI”) is summarized below and in Exhibit 1.01 hereto.
Kennecott
Kennecott is based in the United States of America and produces gold bars. Kennecott performed a RCOI and determined that gold used in Kennecott’s products did not originate in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country (“Covered Countries”). Kennecott received the Responsible Jewellery Council (“RJC”) Chain of Custody Certification (C0000 0007), which ensures that the gold used in their products is responsibly sourced and does not support conflict in a Covered Countries, as defined by the Rule. Kennecott is listed on the Electronics Industry Citizenship Coalition Global e-Sustainability Initiative (“EICC-GeSi”) Conflict Free Gold Refiners List (CID000969) as compliant with the relevant EICC-GeSI relevant Conflict-Free Smelter Program assessment protocol.
ECL and Alesa
ECL and Alesa are based in Europe and manufacture or contract to manufacture machinery used primarily in aluminium smelters.
As set forth in Exhibit 1.01 hereto, Rio Tinto undertook a RCOI and supplier due diligence that employed a combination of measures to determine whether the necessary tin, tungsten, tantalum and/or gold (“3TG”) in ECL and Alesa’s products originated from the Covered Countries. In accordance with the Rule, Rio Tinto has concluded in good faith that for the year ended 31 December 2013:
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Rio Tinto has manufactured or contracted to manufacture products as to which 3TGs are necessary to the functionality or production of such products. |
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Based on a RCOI, Rio Tinto believes or has reason to believe that a portion of its necessary 3TGs originated or may have originated in a Covered Country and knows or has reason to believe that those necessary 3TGs may not be from recycle or scrap sources. |
Rio Tinto engaged a third-party service provider, Assent Compliance (“3PSP”), to develop and implement the RCOI undertaken by ECL and Alesa, primarily using the EICC-GeSi conflict minerals reporting template to query suppliers.
ECL and Alesa began their RCOI scoping process by generating a supplier list. This list was then filtered to remove:
Service providers/suppliers;
Indirect materials suppliers; and
Inactive suppliers (minimum 1 year since last purchase).
Once the filtering was completed, the list of relevant suppliers for ECL and Alesa comprised 296 suppliers. 3PSP then conducted the supplier survey portion of the RCOI using the EICC-GeSI form as the data exchange standard. During the survey, suppliers were contacted by 3PSP via a platform that enables its users to complete and track supplier communications and allows suppliers to upload completed EICC-GeSI forms directly to the platform for red flag assessment and management.
Non-responsive suppliers were contacted a minimum of three times by 3PSP. After a three–month period of non-responsiveness, suppliers were contacted directly by the Rio Tinto procurement team.
Training and advice on the completion of the EICC-GeSI form was provided to suppliers. An additional education session was held in February 2014 to support the due diligence process.
As a result of the RCOI as described above, below is a summary of the information collected:
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Responses |
Amount/Percentage |
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Number of suppliers |
296 |
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Completed responses via EICC-GeSI forms |
65% |
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No-response (including responses without EICC-GeSI forms completed) |
35% |
In accordance with Rule, the Specialized Disclosure Form (“Form SD”) and the associated Conflict Minerals Report (“CMR“) are posted on Rio Tinto’s web site at http://www.riotinto.com/ourcommitment/human-rights-4800.aspx
Item 1.02 Exhibit
Rio Tinto has included its CMR as Exhibit 1.01 to this Form SD.
Section 2 – Exhibits
Item 2.01 Exhibits
Exhibit 1.01 – Conflict Minerals Report
SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrants have duly caused this report to be signed on their behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorised.
| Rio Tinto plc |
Rio Tinto Limited |
| (Registrant) |
(Registrant) |
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| By /s/ Eleanor Evans_ | |
| Name Eleanor Evans |
Name Eleanor Evans |
| Title Company Secretary |
Title Joint Company Secretary |
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| Date 30 May 2014 |
30 May 2014 |
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