In some respects, the past year has been a terrible one for Rio Tinto. The miner blew up two sacred rock shelters that were of the highest archaeological significance in Australia — and, with them, its reputation in the country that accounts for the lion’s share of production and profits.
The Juukan Gorge scandal cost Rio’s chief executive and two other executives their jobs and prompted its chairman to announce his early exit. Yet financial metrics tell a different story.
With China bouncing back from the pandemic, demand for iron ore, Rio’s core commodity, has been stronger than even Rio expected. Aided by supply disruptions and vaccine breakthroughs, iron ore prices rallied sharply through the back end of last year, hitting their highest in a
