Press release: International Women’s Leadership Forum

– Rio Tinto is one of the corporate sponsors for the forum –

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia – Rio Tinto was privileged to be one of the corporate sponsors of the International Women’s Leadership Forum held in Ulaanbaatar, 7-9 July 2012.

Almost 100 delegates from around the world participated, and held individual meetings on topics such as 'Women and Energy' and 'Sustainable Development of Economy' and 'Increasing Women's Civic and Political Participation'. The forum discussed how to foster women in entrepreneurship and how to provide critical opportunities for women for land ownership. Other discussions included the use of energy from renewable sources to lift women and their families out of poverty, particularly in Mongolia. Studies show that female entrepreneurs face difficult challenges in starting and growing a business – these challenges range from a lack of access to finance and markets, to a lack of mentoring and support.

Also discussed were the key obstacles leading to significant female underrepresentation in political and civic processes and decision-making institutions. The forum identified global best practices to overcome these obstacles. As manager of the Oyu Tolgoi project, Rio Tinto was honored to be a part of the conference. Mrs. Sugar.G, Senior Manager of Community Relations for Oyu Tolgoi, presented to the forum about Rio Tinto and Oyu Tolgoi’s gender consideration in business. Mrs. Sugar told the forum how we support the economic empowerment of rural women in the South Gobi province through our business development programmes, scholarship programmes, and our partnership and sponsorship programmes at the national level.

United States Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton; former Prime Minister of Canada, Kim Campbell; former President of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan, Roza Otumbayeva; Foreign Affairs Minister of Estonia, Urmas Paet; Member of the Albanian Parliament, Albana Kyung-wha Kang; Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights of the United Nations, Deputy Prime Minister of of the Republic of Kosova, Edita Tahiri, were honored guests who participated in the forum.

About Oyu Tolgoi LLC (http://en.ot.mn/)

Oyu Tolgoi LLC is Mongolia's largest copper and gold mining company and is a strategic partnership between the Government of Mongolia (34 per cent stake), Ivanhoe Mines (66 per cent) and Rio Tinto. Rio Tinto is the major shareholder in Ivanhoe Mines and the manager of the Oyu Tolgoi project. In addition to dividends from its 34 per cent stake in Oyu Tolgoi, the Government of Mongolia will receive taxes and royalties.

Oyu Tolgoi, located in the Gobi desert in southern Mongolia, will be one of the largest and highest-grade copper and gold mines in the world. It is the largest project ever developed in Mongolia, requiring a capital investment for phase 1 of more than US$6 billion.

Oyu Tolgoi is committed to contributing to a sustainable future for Mongolia. At least 9 out of 10 employees will be Mongolian once the mine is in production and Oyu Tolgoi is investing US$58 million dollars (78 billion MNT) in training and education and an additional US$27 million dollars (36 billion MNT) in the Workforce Employment Project designed to help address the general skills shortage in Mongolia

Oyu Tolgoi's key priorities are the health and safety of employees, best-practice environmental management, contributing to sustainable communities and always doing business with integrity, for the benefit of all the project's shareholders and the people of Mongolia.

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