Rio Tinto Group is a British-Australian
multinational metals and mining corporation with headquarters in
London, United Kingdom and a management office in
Melbourne, Australia. The company was founded in 1873, when a multinational consortium of investors purchased a mine complex on the
Rio Tinto river, in
Huelva, Spain, from the Spanish government. Since then, the company has grown through a long series of mergers and acquisitions to place itself among the world leaders in the production of many commodities, including aluminium, iron ore, copper, uranium, coal, and diamonds. Although primarily focused on extraction of minerals, Rio Tinto also has significant operations in refining, particularly for refining bauxite and iron ore. The company has operations on six continents but is mainly concentrated in Australia and Canada, and owns its mining operations through a complex web of wholly and partly owned
subsidiaries. Its head office in the United Kingdom is in the
City of Westminster, London, while its Australian head office is in the
City of Melbourne.