World Class Performance Wins Contracts

Rio Tinto PLC
7 March 2000


The  following  was  announced by  Rio  Tinto's  wholly
owned Pacific Coal in Australia today.

           WORLD CLASS PERFORMANCE WINS CONTRACTS
                              
Australia's largest open cut thermal coal mine, Blair Athol,
has a secure future following the signing of long term
contracts worth in excess of A$2 billion over the next ten
years.  The contracts, covering 6.45 million tonnes of
production each year, were signed with Electric Power
Development Co Ltd (EPDC) of Japan and Japan Coal
Development Co Ltd (JCD).

Mr Brian Horwood, Managing Director of Pacific Coal, the
company which manages the Blair Athol operation, said that
the signing of these contracts demonstrates customer
confidence in the Blair Athol mine.

'Blair Athol is a competitive coal mine, ranking among the
top 10 per cent of the world's producers,' said Mr Horwood.

'At a time when an increasing amount of coal is being sold
on short term markets, this is a sign of faith in the
lasting nature of the changes that we have made to ensure
that Blair Athol is competitive in the long term.'

'It was a bumpy road at times, but the changes were
necessary to ensure jobs, adequate returns to our joint
venture partners and in excess of A$400 million of export
revenue each year.'

'It also recognises the strong relationships which have
developed between the joint venturers.'

EPDC has signed a ten-year contract for 4.6 million tonnes
of thermal coal per year.  EPDC has a beneficial interest in
the Blair Athol Joint Venture of 9.9515 per cent.

JCD has signed a five-year contract for 1.85 million tonnes
per year.  The company holds a 3.4167 per cent share in the
Blair Athol Joint Venture.

Blair Athol signed its first long term coal supply contracts
with Japanese power generating utilities in the late 1970s.
These contracts underwrote the development of the Blair
Athol coal mining operation, which made its first commercial
shipments of coal in 1984.

Blair Athol is an open cut coal mining operation that
produces up to 11.5 million tonnes per year of thermal coal.
The mine, which also supplies to customers in Asia, Europe
and South America, has recoverable in-situ reserves
estimated at 123.9 million tonnes.

The Blair Athol coal mine is located in the Bowen Basin in
Central Queensland, 25 kilometres north-west of Clermont.
Coal for export is carried 278 kilometres by rail to the
Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal at Hay Point, near Mackay.

Pacific Coal (Rio Tinto 100 per cent) has a beneficial
interest in the Blair Athol Joint Venture of 71.2379 per
cent.


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John Hughes                        Peter Jarvis
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