Rio Tinto is donating $1 million to the Australian Red Cross, a Queensland Government-approved agency, to help communities recover from Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The donation is part of Rio Tinto’s disaster response program, which provides support in times of need to communities where the company operates.
The funds will provide emergency relief, recovery assistance and long-term support services for affected communities in Queensland and Northern New South Wales.
“The impact of Tropical Cyclone Alfred hits close to home for us, with one of our hubs in Brisbane and many of our team members and local suppliers living in Southeast Queensland,” Rio Tinto chief executive, Australia, Kellie Parker said.
“The Australian Red Cross is doing incredible work, and we are proud to be supporting their critical relief and recovery efforts.
“We appreciate their continued commitment to supporting our communities, prioritising wellbeing and resilience building during challenging times.”
Rio Tinto has said it will also match any employee donations to relief efforts.
The miner paused its operations during the worst of the storm, resuming works shortly after it passed over the region.
Rio holds several operations in Queensland, including the Yarwun alumina refinery and Queensland Alumina – one of the world’s largest alumina refineries.
The major also operates Tomago Aluminium on the NSW coast, which has been operating since 1983 and today is Australia’s largest aluminium smelter, producing 580,000 tonnes of aluminium per year.
Alfred is not the first cyclone to impact Rio operations this year, with Tropical Cyclone Zelia briefly shuttering the miner’s Western Australian port, rail and mine operations in February.
Just a few weeks before, Tropical Cyclone Sean caused damage to a railcar dumper at the Rio Tinto-owned East Intercourse Island (EII) port facility in WA.
As no stranger to the impacts of cyclones, Rio Tinto’s support for the Queensland and NSW communities affected by Tropical Cyclone Alfred will go a long way to helping locals get back on track.
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