Rio Tinto CEO Defends London Listing, Outlines Future Growth Plans

Rio Tinto's (NYSE:RIO) CEO Jakob Stausholm has dismissed activist shareholder calls to abandon the company's primary London listing.

Palliser Capital, a global multi-strategy fund that holds around $250 million in Rio Tinto shares, argued that the dual listing has destroyed $50 billion in value and hampered large-scale mergers and acquisitions.

The fund also claimed that unifying the structure under Australian listing rules could unlock $28 billion in near-term shareholder value.

Speaking at an investor seminar in London, Stausholm argued the dual-listed structure provides value to shareholders.

"We've seen no compelling evidence suggesting our current structure is not the best option for Rio Tinto," he stated per Bloomberg's report. Instead, he presented an elaborate strategy to strengthen the company's diversified portfolio.

The management sees the Oyu Tolgoi mine in Mongolia playing a notable role in this plan. Its production is set to expand by 50% in 2024, contributing to the firm's goal of producing 1 million tons of copper annually by 2030.

Other copper initiatives include the Resolution project in the U.S. and the recent sale of a 30% stake in the Australian Winu project to Sumitomo for $399 million. Such strategic sales should help cover capital expenditures, set at $11 billion for 2025, up from $9.5 billion in 2024.

Rio Tinto's investments in iron ore, lithium, and aluminum are key to supporting the energy transition. Pilbara's iron ore production is expected to remain stable, while lithium operations are expanding, driven by the recent $6.7 billion bid for Arcadium Lithium.

Acquiring a firm with significant operations in South America complements Rincon's project in Argentina. This project holds over 11 million tons of lithium carbonate equivalent in resources and reserves, positioning it as a critical asset in the electric vehicle supply chain.

Stausholm reaffirmed Rio Tinto's commitment to decarbonization, targeting a 50% reduction in operational emissions by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.

The elaborate presentation laid out the company's plan to invest $5-6 billion in decarbonization by 2030, focusing on electrification, renewable energy, and breakthrough technologies.

Looking beyond 2030, the company is preparing a pipeline of 60 projects, with around $1 billion in committed research and development costs, including carbon-free smelting (ELYSIS), a metallurgical biocarbon, and a hydrogen calcination pilot plant at Yarwun, which aims to replace natural gas with hydrogen in the aluminum refinery process.

Read Next:

• Politics Halt Norwegian Deep-Sea Mining, Environmentalists Look Toward Japan