The diversified global miner said Monday the certification reinforced the company's commitment to responsible mining and metals production by providing independent verification that material could be traced through a ‘chain of custody' spanning Rio Tinto's Gove bauxite mine in Australia to its alumina refinery, aluminium smelters and casthouses in Quebec and British Columbia.
ASI certification is designed to assure customers aluminium purchased through Rio Tinto's Canadian operations has been produced to the highest environmental, social and governance standards.
Rio Tinto said it had led the establishment of responsible production certification for the aluminium industry as a founding member of the ASI, working alongside customers and a broad range of stakeholders.
"This certification continues Rio Tinto's leadership on responsible production," said Rio Tinto Aluminium VP for sales and marketing and ASI board member Tolga Egrilmezer. "It increases the availability of ASI certified aluminium in a range of markets, giving customers the ability to offer end consumers products made with aluminium that meets the highest sustainability standards."
ASI CEO Fiona Solomon added: "We applaud Rio Tinto for their commitment to ASI's mission since joining as a founding member, and for continuing to extend the reach of their ASI certified operations. This successful Chain of Custody certification demonstrates ASI's potential to create impact through voluntary uptake of its programme.
"We are seeing the positive upstream examples like this one now extending into downstream aluminium use sectors such as automotive, construction and packaging, and this is very encouraging."
