COVID-19

Rio rolls out new roster for Pilbara ops

Rio Tinto reduces swings to combat COVID-19.

This article is 5 years old. Images might not display.

Australia's Mining Monthly is making some of its most important coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic freely available to readers. For more coverage, please see our COVID-19 hub. To subscribe to AMM, click here.

 

Updated rosters are also being rolled out for more than 3500 workers at 14 other sites across the Pilbara.

Rio Tinto employs 12,300 workers in Western Australia's Pilbara across its network of 16 mines, four port terminals and 1700km of rail.

The recent state and regional lockdown has affected the national fly-in, fly-out workforce, although 700 employees with specialist skills have relocated to Perth from interstate or overseas so they can continue to get to work.

Travel will be restricted in and out of the Pilbara, with new charter schedules by Qantas and Virgin complying with social distancing guidelines by spacing workers on planes and at airports.

Workers will also be screened and undergo temperature checks before they can board their flights.

Control measures managing entry to sites have also been introduced, with each operation to have controlled zones where only those authorised and screened can pass through.

Every second seat on company buses has also been tagged out as unavailable.

Rio Tinto iron ore CEO Chris Salisbury said the strengthened measures meant operations could keep running and the company could continue to make a strong contribution to the Western Australian and Australian economies during this very challenging time.

Salisbury said the company was pledging $6.6 million to three key WA organisations in Foodbank, Lifeline and the Royal Flying Doctor Service, as part of the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA's COVID-19 community support initiative, to help local communities cope during the COVID-19 crisis.

Expert-led Insights reports built on robust data, rigorous analysis and expert commentary covering mining Exploration, Future Fleets, Automation and Digitalisation, and ESG.

Expert-led Insights reports built on robust data, rigorous analysis and expert commentary covering mining Exploration, Future Fleets, Automation and Digitalisation, and ESG.

editions

Future Fleets Insights 2026

Mining IQ Insights delivers annual standalone reports that expand upon the most relevant discussion points in the mining sector.

editions

ESG Index 2025: Benchmarking the Future of Sustainable Mining

The ESG Index provides an in-depth evaluation of the ESG performance of 60+ of the world’s largest mining companies. It assesses companies across 10 weighted indicators within 6 essential ESG pillars.

editions

Automation and Digitalisation Insights 2025

Discover how mining companies and investors are adopting, deploying and evaluating new technologies.

editions

Mining IQ Exploration Insights 2025

Gain exclusive insights into the world of exploration in a comprehensive review of the top trending technologies, intercepts, discoveries and more.