London Tech Week: Rio Tinto leans into UK tech to hit net zero targets
The UK must invest more materials innovation and secure tech partnerships or risk being left behind in the global arms race for essential minerals needed for energy transition, mining giant Rio Tinto execs told London Tech Week.
Chief executive Jakob Stausholm and chief innovation officer Dan Walker said the FTSE 100 giant is betting heavily on British talent and tech to solve future supply chain challenges, reaffirming its long-term commitment to London following a shareholder vote last month to retain its UK listing.
“Our purpose is to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs”, said Walker. “But we don’t have all the answers, and that’s why we’re partnering with brilliant minds with the brightest ideas”.
Rio Tinto: Scaling for net zero
The firm, already the largest user of autonomous mining vehicles, is now turning to UK science and startups to accelerate its decarbonisation plans and rethink how key materials are extracted and processed.
Stausholm said the firm’s transition to net zero by 2050 will require “reimagining manufacturing processes”, and that innovation must deliver commercially, not just ideologically.
“It has to come through technology. It has to be efficient, otherwise the world can’t afford it”, he said at the event.
Recent efforts include a $150m, 10 year partnership with Imperial College to explore future materials and investments in clean tech startups.
An example given was ElectricaLith, which is developing lithium extraction processes that use no chemicals or water.
“Innovation doesn’t happen in isolation – it thrives in collaboration”, Walker repeated throughout the talk. He also added: “We’re actively looking to engage more startups, universities, and governments to realise these opportunities”.
London: a strategic hub
Rio Tinto’s appearance at London Tech Week on Monday came just weeks after shareholders overwhelmingly rejected an activist push from Palliser Capital to ditch the firm’s dual listing and consolidate in Sydney.
Over 80 per cent had voted against the motion, which the firm had previously described as “unfounded and misleading“.
“London is our hometown”, said Staysholm at the time.
He noted that Rio Tinto’s origins dated back to British investors backing a depleted copper mine in southern Spain 152 years ago – a project that went on to become the world’s largest copper mine.
“What built our strength has always been technology”, he said.