Eleanor Evans has been appointed company secretary of Rio Tinto plc and joint company secretary of Rio Tinto Ltd., effective from 7 June 2013. Ben Mathews has informed the Group of his intention to resign from the role of company secretary of Rio Tinto plc and joint company secretary of Rio Tinto Limited with effect from the same date. Ms Evans will be based in London. Tim Paine continues to be joint company secretary of Rio Tinto Limited, based in Melbourne.

Rio Tinto Ltd. has applied to the NSW Supreme Court to speed up its bid to reverse a court decision blocking the extension of its Warkworth coal project in the Hunter Valley. Rio has already cut 40 jobs after its permission to expand the Mount Thorley mine was overturned in the NSW Land and Environment Court in April after residents from the tiny town of Bulga succeeded in a battle against the project. Rio appealed the decision, and applied to expedite the appeals process. In an affidavit filed with the original appeal, it announced the immediate effect of not being able to proceed with the extension was that an area known as Saddleback Ridge could not be mined, and that coal production would drop from 12 million tonnes a year to 10 million tonnes. Rio announced the mine had an existing workforce of 1,300, and the extension would create an additional 150 jobs over its life. The NSW Land and Environment Court's decision has been slammed by Rio and industry bodies, including the Australian Coal Association, for increasing uncertainty in the sector already besieged by weak pricing and a high Australian dollar.

Rio Tinto Ltd. (ASX:RIO) is considering a $2 billion-plus float of its diamonds business as early as this year despite strong interest from trade buyers in some of the assets to date. Rio Tinto's Chief Executive Officer of diamonds and minerals, Alan Davies, said that while there was international interest in its diamond business, it was a complex portfolio and the miner would consider all options."The complexity of the business is quite difficult for organizations that don't run multiple-continent type businesses," Alan Davies said. It is understood if Rio were to pursue a float of the business later this year, most likely in London or Hong Kong, it would need to do so on the basis of its interim accounts to June 30, 2013.