“Our success as a business depends not only on our skills and the quality and diversity of the Group's assets, but also on our shared commitment to be a dependable global partner and good local neighbor.” 1 Challenges to sustainable project management (and closure): Rio Tinto’s Kelian Project In 2007, Rio Tinto (Rio), one of the largest mining companies of the world, was awarded as a ‘climate disclosure leader, along with Hewlett Packard for their exemplary role in managing climate change. Earlier in the year, the company won another coveted Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) award in Australia. Such awards were not new to the company. Neither were the numerous brickbats it received from green activists worldwide. The citation praised the efforts made by Rio to adopt pioneering environmental practices in the mining industry. However, Rio Tinto had also been in the news for the brickbats it received from the NGOs. Mining was by nature an intrusive activity with the potential to damage environment and disrupt local communities. Mining companies were continuously monitored and critically evaluated by activist groups and NGOs all over the world. As an industry leader, Rio was attacked heavily for its mining practices in many of its mines. The Kelian gold mine in Indonesia was one of them. Rio Tinto had a ninety percent interest 2 in Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM), which operated an open pit gold mine in the central foothills of East Kalimantan, Indonesia. About Rio Tinto The Rio Tinto 3 Company was formed in 1873 to mine ancient copper deposits at the Rio Tinto area of Southern Spain. Listed both in the UK and Australia, the company was created by the merger of RTZ 4 Corporation Plc (renamed as Rio Tinto Plc) and CRA 5 Limited (renamed as Rio Tinto Limited) in December 1995. It had operations in North America, Indonesia, Australasia, Europe, Southern Africa and South America. The company had subsidiary and associated companies in 35 countries. Principal metal products included aluminum, copper, gold and iron ore. Energy products included coal and uranium. Industrial mineral products included borax, titanium dioxide, talc, diamonds and zircon. The group employed around 35,000 people. Since its merger, the company worked hard to improve its image to the international community with a series of policy 1 www.riotinto.com/about us 2 Harita Jayaraya group of Indonesia had the remaining 10 percent interest 3 Interestingly, the name Rio Tinto meant dyed or stained river in Spanish. 4 Rio Tinto Zinc 5 Conzinc RioTinto Australia