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Borrowings and other financial liabilities - Summary of detailed information about borrowings (Parenthetical) (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Millions	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016
Disclosure of detailed information about borrowings [Line Items]
Cumulative amount utilised from debt issuance	$ 2,200	$ 1,900
Carrying value of bonds	2,200	2,000
Borrowings	15,176	17,630
Subsidiary borrowings	2,700	2,800
Debt instrument restrictive covenants	4,700	4,800
European debt issuance programme [member]
Disclosure of detailed information about borrowings [Line Items]
Notional amount	$ 10,000	$ 10,000

X

- Definition

The amount of bonds issued by the entity.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Name IAS
-Number 1
-IssueDate 2016-01-13
-Paragraph 112
-Subparagraph c
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/XBRL?type=IAS&num=1&date=2016-03-30&anchor=para_112_c&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2016-03-31

+ Details

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Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Definition

The amount of outstanding funds that the entity is obligated to repay.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Name IAS
-Number 1
-IssueDate 2016-01-13
-Paragraph 55
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/XBRL?type=IAS&num=1&date=2016-03-30&anchor=para_55&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2016-03-31

+ Details

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- Definition

Line items represent concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes of the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

The nominal or face amount of a financial instrument, used to calculate payments made on that instrument.

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2009/role/commonPracticeRef
-Name IAS
-Number 1
-IssueDate 2016-01-13
-Paragraph 112
-Subparagraph c
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/XBRL?type=IAS&num=1&date=2016-03-30&anchor=para_112_c&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2016-03-31

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- Definition

Cumulative amount utilised from debt issuance.

+ References

No definition available.

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- Definition

Debt instruments restrictive covenants.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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- Definition

Subsidiary borrowings.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

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Namespace Prefix:	rio_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

X

- Details

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Namespace Prefix:
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