Rio Tinto publishes site-by-site water usage data

In an industry first, for major mining companies, Rio Tinto has publicly detailed information about annual surface water usage across its global network of managed sites in 35 countries, through an interactive map on its website riotinto.com/water.

The database provides information on permissible surface water allocation amounts, the site's yearly allocation usage, and the corresponding catchment runoff from an estimate of average annual rainfall for each managed site that is included. The database will be updated yearly and contains historical comparative data going back five years.

Water stewardship

This pledge is in line with the International Council on Mining and Metals' (ICMM) Water Stewardship Policy Statement, which outlines ICMM members' approaches to water stewardship, and its recommendations for water reporting. It comprises obligations for participants to implement robust and open water governance and effectively manage water at operations.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Jakob Stausholm said “Water is an essential resource, critical to sustaining biodiversity, people, and economic prosperity. It is also a resource we share with the communities and nature surrounding our operations, so it is essential that we carefully manage our use and hold ourselves accountable to our stakeholders.

“This interactive database brings a new level of transparency and will enable us to engage more deeply with our stakeholders, seek their feedback on our disclosure and continue to focus our efforts on becoming better water stewards for today and future generations.”