XML 40 R32.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT v3.21.2

Notes to financial information by business unit (Detail)	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2021
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Percentage of capital expenditure in subsidiaries	100.00%
Hope Downs Joint Venture
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in joint venture (as a percent)	50.00%
Robe river iron associates
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in joint venture (as a percent)	65.00%
Proportion of net beneficial interest	53.00%
Robe river iron associates | Thirty Percent
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Net beneficial interest held percentage	30.00%
Net beneficial interest held percentage as owned subsidiary	60.00%
Robe river iron associates | Thirty Five Percentage
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Net beneficial interest held percentage	35.00%
Net beneficial interest held percentage as owned subsidiary	100.00%
Diavik
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in joint venture (as a percent)	60.00%
Hamersley
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in subsidiary	100.00%
Oyu Tolgoi | Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Percentage of share class held in subsidiaries	50.80%
Oyu Tolgoi | Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd | Oyo Tolgoi Copper-Gold Mine
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Percentage of share class held in subsidiaries	66.00%
Simfer Jersey Limited
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in subsidiary	53.00%
Simfer Sa
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in subsidiary	85.00%
Proportion of ownership interests held by non-controlling interests	45.05%
Rio Tinto Fer Et Titane Inc
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in subsidiary	100.00%
Qit Madagascar Minerals
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in subsidiary	80.00%
Richards Bay Minerals
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in subsidiary	74.00%
Argyle
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in subsidiary	100.00%
Gove Alumina Refinery And Rio Tinto Marine
Disclosure of operating segments [line items]
Proportion of ownership interest in subsidiary	100.00%

X

- 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

Name:	ifrs-full_DisclosureOfOperatingSegmentsLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The proportion of ownership interest in a joint venture attributable to the entity. [Refer: Joint ventures [member]]

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
-Number 27
-IssueDate 2020-01-01
-Paragraph 17
-Subparagraph b
-Clause iii
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IAS&num=27&code=ifrs-tx-2020-en-r&anchor=para_17_b_iii&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2020-01-01

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
-Number 27
-IssueDate 2020-01-01
-Paragraph 16
-Subparagraph b
-Clause iii
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IAS&num=27&code=ifrs-tx-2020-en-r&anchor=para_16_b_iii&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2020-01-01

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IFRS
-Number 12
-IssueDate 2020-01-01
-Paragraph 21
-Subparagraph a
-Clause iv
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IFRS&num=12&code=ifrs-tx-2020-en-r&anchor=para_21_a_iv&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2020-01-01

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_ProportionOfOwnershipInterestInJointVenture
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The proportion of ownership interest in a subsidiary attributable to the entity. [Refer: Subsidiaries [member]]

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
-Number 27
-IssueDate 2020-01-01
-Paragraph 17
-Subparagraph b
-Clause iii
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IAS&num=27&code=ifrs-tx-2020-en-r&anchor=para_17_b_iii&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2020-01-01

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IAS
-Number 27
-IssueDate 2020-01-01
-Paragraph 16
-Subparagraph b
-Clause iii
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IAS&num=27&code=ifrs-tx-2020-en-r&anchor=para_16_b_iii&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2020-01-01

Reference 3: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IFRS
-Number 12
-IssueDate 2020-01-01
-Paragraph 19B
-Subparagraph c
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IFRS&num=12&code=ifrs-tx-2020-en-r&anchor=para_19B_c&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2020-01-01

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_ProportionOfOwnershipInterestInSubsidiary
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

The proportion of ownership interests in a subsidiary held by non-controlling interests. [Refer: Subsidiaries [member]; Non-controlling interests]

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Name IFRS
-Number 12
-IssueDate 2020-01-01
-Paragraph 12
-Subparagraph c
-URI http://eifrs.ifrs.org/eifrs/xifrs-link?type=IFRS&num=12&code=ifrs-tx-2020-en-r&anchor=para_12_c&doctype=Standard
-URIDate 2020-01-01

+ Details

Name:	ifrs-full_ProportionOfOwnershipInterestsHeldByNoncontrollingInterests
Namespace Prefix:	ifrs-full_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Net beneficial interest held percentage.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	rio_NetBeneficialInterestHeldPercentage
Namespace Prefix:	rio_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Net beneficial interest held percentage as owned subsidiary.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	rio_NetBeneficialInterestHeldPercentageAsOwnedSubsidiary
Namespace Prefix:	rio_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Percentage of capital expenditure in subsidiaries.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	rio_PercentageOfCapitalExpenditureInSubsidiaries
Namespace Prefix:	rio_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Percentage of share class held in subsidiaries.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	rio_PercentageOfShareClassHeldInSubsidiaries
Namespace Prefix:	rio_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Definition

Proportion of net beneficial interest.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	rio_ProportionOfNetBeneficialInterest
Namespace Prefix:	rio_
Data Type:	num:percentItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_JointVenturesAxis=rio_HopeDownsJointVentureMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_JointVenturesAxis=rio_RobeRiverIronAssociatesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_BusinessCombinationsAxis=rio_ThirtyPercentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_BusinessCombinationsAxis=rio_ThirtyFivePercentageMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_JointVenturesAxis=rio_DiavikJointVentureMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInSubsidiariesAxis=rio_HamersleyIronPtyLimitedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInSubsidiariesAxis=rio_OyuTolgoiLlcMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	dei_LegalEntityAxis=rio_TurquoiseHillResourcesLtdMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_ProductsAndServicesAxis=rio_OyoTolgoiCopperGoldMineMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInSubsidiariesAxis=rio_SimferJerseyLimitedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInSubsidiariesAxis=rio_SimferSaMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInSubsidiariesAxis=rio_RioTintoFerEtTitaneIncMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInSubsidiariesAxis=rio_QitMadagascarMineralsSaMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInSubsidiariesAxis=rio_RichardsBayMineralsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInSubsidiariesAxis=rio_ArgyleDiamondsLimitedMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

X

- Details

Name:	ifrs-full_SignificantInvestmentsInSubsidiariesAxis=rio_GoveAluminaRefineryAndRioTintoMarineMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: