Rio Tinto PLC

Regulatory Filings • May 18, 2018

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RNS Number : 5010O

Rio Tinto PLC

18 May 2018

Rio Tinto granted accreditation for AutoHaul® project by rail regulator

18 May 2018

Rio Tinto has been granted accreditation by Australia's Office of the National Rail Safety Regulator approving the autonomous operation of trains at the group's iron ore business in Western Australia.

The AutoHaul® project continues to progress and is on schedule to be completed by the end of 2018. Rio Tinto will take a phased approach to deploying autonomous trains across the network in the lead up to full commissioning.

Once commissioned, the network will be the world's first heavy haul, long distance autonomous rail operation, unlocking significant safety and productivity benefits for the business.

Rio Tinto's Pilbara shipments guidance for 2018 remains between 330 and 340 million tonnes (100 per cent basis). This is subject to market conditions and any weather constraints.

Notes to editors

The AutoHaul® project is focused on automating trains transporting iron ore to Rio Tinto's port facilities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Trains started running in autonomous mode with a driver on-board monitoring operations in the first quarter of 2017.

At the end of the first quarter of 2018, approximately 65 per cent of all train kilometres were completed in autonomous mode. More than 3 million kilometres have now been completed in this mode.

Rio Tinto operates about 200 locomotives on more than 1,700 kilometres of track in the Pilbara, transporting ore from 16 mines to four port terminals.

Contacts

media.enquiries@riotinto.com 

riotinto.com  

Follow @RioTinto on Twitter

### Media Relations, United Kingdom Illtud Harri T +44 20 7781 1152 M +44 7920 503 600 David Outhwaite T +44 20 7781 1623 M +44 7787 597 493 ### Investor Relations, United Kingdom John Smelt T +44 20 7781 1654 M +44 7879 642 675 David Ovington T +44 20 7781 2051 M +44 7920 010 978 Nick Parkinson T +44 20 7781 1552 M +44 7810 657 556	### Media Relations, Australia Jonathan Rose T +61 3 9283 3088 M +61 447 028 913 Jesse Riseborough T +61 8 6211 6013 M + 61 436 653 412 ### Investor Relations, Australia Natalie Worley T +61 3 9283 3063 M +61 409 210 462 Rachel Storrs T +61 3 9283 3628 M +61 417 401 018
### Rio Tinto plc 6 St James's Square London SW1Y 4AD United Kingdom T +44 20 7781 2000 Registered in England No. 719885	### Rio Tinto Limited 360 Collins Street Melbourne 3000 Australia T +61 3 9283 3333 Registered in Australia ABN 96 004 458 404

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