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Principal subsidiaries
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2019
Disclosure of subsidiaries [abstract]  
Principal subsidiaries
33 Principal subsidiaries
At 31 December 2019
Company and country of incorporation/operation
Principal activities
Class of shares
held
Proportion of class held (%)


Group
interest
(%)


Non-controlling
interest (%)
Australia


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Argyle Diamonds Limited
Mining and processing of diamonds
Ordinary
100
 
 
100
 
 
—
Dampier Salt Limited
Salt and gypsum production
Ordinary
68.36
 
 
68.36
 
 
31.64
Energy Resources of Australia Ltd
Uranium processing
Ordinary
68.39
 
 
68.39
 
 
31.61
Hamersley Iron Pty Limited
Iron ore mining
Ordinary
100
 
 
100
 
 
—
North Mining Limited(a)
Iron ore mining
Ordinary
100
 
 
100
 
 
—
Rio Tinto Aluminium (Holdings) Limited
Bauxite mining; alumina production; primary aluminium smelting
Ordinary
100
 
 
100
 
 
—

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Robe River Mining Co Pty Ltd(a)
Iron ore mining
Class A
40
 
 
60
 
 
40
Class B
76.36
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Brazil


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Alcan Alumina Ltda.(b)
Alumina production and bauxite mining
Quota
100
 
 
100
 
 
—
Canada


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Iron Ore Company of Canada(c)
Iron ore mining; iron ore pellets production
Common
58.72
 
 
58.72
 
 
41.28
Rio Tinto Fer et Titane Inc.
Titanium dioxide feedstock; high purity iron and steel production
Common
100
 
 
100
 
 
—
Class B preference
100
 
 
100
 
 
—
CAD 0.01 preferred
100
 
 
100
 
 
—
Rio Tinto Alcan Inc.
Bauxite mining; alumina refining; aluminium smelting
Common
100
 
 
100
 
 
—

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Diavik Diamond Mines (2012) Inc.(d)
Diamond mining and processing
Common
100
 
 
100
 
 
—
Guinea


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Simfer Jersey Limited(e)
Iron ore project
Ordinary
53
 
 
53
 
 
47
Madagascar


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
QIT Madagascar Minerals SA(f)
Ilmenite mining
Common
80
 
 
80
 
 
15
Investment certificates
100
 
 
100
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Voting certificates
80
 
 
80
 
 
20
Mongolia


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd
(including Oyu Tolgoi LLC)(g)
Copper and gold mining
Common
50.79
 
 
50.79
 
 
49.21
South Africa


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Richards Bay Titanium (Proprietary) Limited(h)
Titanium dioxide; high purity iron production
B Ordinary
100
 
 
74
 
 
26
B preference
100
 
 
 
 
Parent Preference
100
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Richards Bay Mining (Proprietary) Limited(h)
Ilmenite, rutile and zircon mining
B Ordinary
100
 
 
74
 
 
26
B preference
100
 
 
 
 
Parent Preference
100
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
US


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Kennecott Holdings Corporation (including Kennecott Utah Copper and Kennecott Exploration)
Copper and gold mining, smelting and refining and exploration activities
Common US$0.01
100
 
 
100
 
 
—
U.S. Borax Inc.
Mining, refining and marketing of borates
Common US$0.01
100
 
 
100
 
 
—

This list includes only those companies that have a more significant impact on the profit or operating assets of the Group. Refer to note 47 for a list of related undertakings.
33 Principal subsidiaries continued
The Group’s principal subsidiaries are mostly held by intermediate holding companies and not directly by Rio Tinto plc or Rio Tinto Limited.
(a)
Robe River Mining Co Pty Ltd (which is 60% owned by the Group) holds a 30% interest in Robe River Iron Associates (Robe River). North Mining Ltd (which is wholly owned by the Group) holds a 35% interest in Robe River. Through these companies the Group recognises a 65% share of the assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses of Robe River, with a 12% non-controlling interest. The Group therefore has a 53% beneficial interest in Robe River.
(b)
Alcan Alumina Ltda holds the Group’s 10% interest in Consórcio De Alumínio Do Maranhão, a joint operation in which the Group participates but is not a joint operator. The Group recognises its share of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses relating to this arrangement.
(c)
Iron Ore Company of Canada is incorporated in the US, but operates in Canada .
(d)
Diavik Diamond Mines (2012) Inc. (DDMI) is the legal entity that owns the Group’s 60% interest in the Diavik Joint Venture, an unincorporated arrangement. The Group recognises its share of assets, revenue and expenses relating to this arrangement. Liabilities are recognised according to DDMI’s contractual obligations, with a corresponding 40% receivable or contingent asset representing the co-owner’s share where applicable .
(e)
Simfer Jersey Limited, a company incorporated in Jersey in which the Group has a 53% interest, has an 85% interest in Simfer S.A., the company that operates the Simandou mining project in Guinea. The Group therefore has a 45.05% indirect interest in Simfer S.A. These entities are consolidated as subsidiaries and together referred to as the Simandou iron ore project.
(f)
The Group’s shareholding in QIT Madagascar Minerals SA carries an 80% economic interest and 80% of the total voting rights; a further 5% economic interest is held through non-voting investment certificates to give an economic interest of 85%. The non-controlling interests have a 15% economic interest and 20% of the total voting rights.
(g)
The Group has a 50.79% interest in Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd, which holds a 66% interest in Oyu Tolgoi LLC (OT) which is a subsidiary of Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. The Group therefore has a 33.5% indirect interest in OT. Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd is incorporated in Canada but operates principally in Mongolia.
(h)
Additional classes of shares issued by Richards Bay Titanium (Proprietary) Limited and Richards Bay Mining (Proprietary) Limited representing non-controlling interests are not shown. The Group’s total legal and beneficial interest in Richards Bay Titanium (Proprietary) Limited and Richards Bay Mining (Proprietary) Limited is 74%.

Summary financial information for subsidiaries that have non-controlling interests that are material to the Group
This summarised financial information is shown on a 100% basis. It represents the amounts shown in the subsidiaries’ financial statements prepared in accordance with IFRS under Group accounting policies, including fair value adjustments, and before intercompany eliminations.

Iron Ore
Company of
Canada
2019
US$m

Iron Ore
Company of
Canada
2018
US$m

Energy
Resources of
Australia
2019
US$m

Energy
Resources of
Australia
2018
US$m

Turquoise
Hill(a)(b)(c)
2019
US$m

Turquoise
Hill(a)(b)(c)
2018
US$m

Revenue
2,014

1,561

145

151

1,166

1,180

Profit/(loss) after tax
543

298

5

(241
)
(2,137
)
139

– attributable to non-controlling interests
224

122

2

1

(1,490
)
14

– attributable to Rio Tinto
319

176

3

(242
)
(647
)
125

Other comprehensive income/(loss)
57

(136
)
2

2

—

(4
)
Total comprehensive income/(loss)
600

162

7

(239
)
(2,137
)
135

Non-current assets
2,585

2,376

76

74

9,589

10,375

Current assets
610

459

258

311

2,449

3,813

Current liabilities
(532
)
(351
)
(127
)
(123
)
(493
)
(540
)
Non-current liabilities
(927
)
(791
)
(462
)
(522
)
(4,405
)
(4,367
)
Net assets/(liabilities)
1,736

1,693

(255
)
(260
)
7,140

9,281

– attributable to non-controlling interests
718

699

—

(6
)
2,369

3,936

– attributable to Rio Tinto
1,018

994

(255
)
(254
)
4,771

5,345

Cash flow from operations
1,039

553

(73
)
(64
)
298

357

Dividends paid to non-controlling interests
(228
)
(178
)
—

—

—

—


(a)
Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd holds a controlling interest in Oyu Tolgoi LLC (OT).
(b)
Under the terms of the project finance facility held by OT, there are certain restrictions on the ability of OT to make shareholder distributions.
(c)
Since 2011, Turquoise Hill has funded common share investments in OT on behalf of Erdenes Oyu Tolgoi LLC (“Erdenes”). In accordance with the Amended and Restated Shareholders Agreement dated 8 June 2011, such funded amounts earn interest at an effective annual rate of Libor plus 6.5% and are repayable to them via a pledge over Erdenes’ share of future OT common share dividends. Erdenes also has the right to reduce the outstanding balance by making payments directly to Turquoise Hill. Common share investments funded on behalf of Erdenes are recorded as a reduction to the net carrying value of non-controlling interests. As at 31 December 2019, the cumulative amount of such funding was US$1,241 million (31 December 2018: US$1,021 million), excluding accrued interest of US$655 million (31 December 2018: US$506 million) relating to this funding.

Robe River Mining Co Pty
2019
US$m

Robe River Mining Co Pty
2018
US$m

Other companies and eliminations(d)
2019
US$m

Other companies and eliminations(d)
2018
US$m

Robe River
2019
US$m

Robe River
2018
US$m

Revenue
1,493

1,082

1,743

1,262

3,236

2,344

Profit after tax
808

561

825

543

1,633

1,104

– attributable to non-controlling interests
312

218

—

—

312

218

– attributable to Rio Tinto
496

343

825

543

1,321

886

Other comprehensive loss
(13
)
(313
)
(12
)
(203
)
(25
)
(516
)
Total comprehensive income
795

248

813

340

1,608

588

Non-current assets
2,622

2,610

3,687

3,739

6,309

6,349

Current assets
1,161

710

1,873

2,368

3,034

3,078

Current liabilities
(173
)
(111
)
(303
)
(235
)
(476
)
(346
)
Non-current liabilities
(84
)
(117
)
(3,392
)
(3,977
)
(3,476
)
(4,094
)
Net assets
3,526

3,092

1,865

1,895

5,391

4,987

– attributable to non-controlling interests
1,404

1,237

—

—

1,404

1,237

– attributable to Rio Tinto
2,122

1,855

1,865

1,895

3,987

3,750

Cash flow from operations
1,255

933

1,447

1,151

2,702

2,084

Dividends paid to non-controlling interests
(139
)
(224
)
—

—

(139
)
(224
)


(d)
“Other companies and eliminations” includes North Mining Limited (a wholly owned subsidiary of the Group which accounts for its interest in Robe River) and goodwill of US$349 million (2018: US$351 million) that arose on the Group’s acquisition of its interest in Robe River.