Rio Tinto Group (RIO) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

[Interpreted] I would like to start by mentioning that we are on the land of the National [indiscernible] , known as the gathering place for the many first nations. I am Carol Cilliers, Councilor for External Communications for Rio Tinto, and I will be the host for this afternoon. It's in two places. One, we'll do an announcement for today with our guest of honors, and then there will be a question period that my -- hosted by Simone [indiscernible], Director of Media Communication. At the close, there will be a photo session. The press conference will take place in both official languages. Event which will take place in 2 stages. First, we will hear from our guest of honor. Second, my colleague, Simon [indiscernible], will facilitate a media Q&A. The press conference will be held in both official languages. [Foreign Language] [Interpreted] Interpreting. So without further ado, I invite Dan Blondal, CEO for Nano One.

Thank you, Carol. It's an honor and a pleasure to be here. We want to announce today that Rio Tinto is our partner with an investments of about $10 million. It's a great step for Nano One. It brings together people, knowledge, technology and the government. We want to help Canada and Quebec become leaders within battery ecosystem, low -- [Foreign Language]. [Interpreted] My colleagues and I spent a day yesterday to the [indiscernible] at Rio Tinto, and I brought an important message back. These are the words from Didier Arseguel, who's the VP of Technology, and he will speak to us later. They are also the words from entrepreneurs like Nano One. So it's easy for Nano One because we are small. However, we are also great thinkers. We changed the way the world builds battery materials. And Rio Tinto, as large as they are at speed with knowledge and strength. Think big, start small, move forward quickly. These words bind us, and I'm so excited to be part of this journey. We are developing chemical processes that reduce complexity, cost and the environmental footprint of lithium-ion battery materials. Our headquarters and innovation center are in Burnaby, British Columbia, and we announced a few weeks ago our plans to acquire Johnson Matthey Battery Materials in Sorel, Quebec. Adding to now -- adding to this now is Rio Tinto, and this brings horsepower and the kind of know-how that can propel us into a terawatt-hour era of lithium-ion battery materials. Over the years, we have had great support from the government of Canada and British Columbia, and I'd like to thank Minister Wilkinson for the confidence and support given to Nano One and for the long-term vision to make Canada a center for battery materials, metals and processing. [Interpreted] And Minister [indiscernible], I'm sorry you can't be here today, but thank you for bringing together great investment strategic in Canada and in Quebec and Ontario. These programs add resilience to the ecosystem. They create jobs and economical opportunities, something essential for businesses like Nano One. You are 2 ministers from British Columbia and Quebec who lead a pan-Canadian effort, and I am proud to be part of it. I'm all so thankful also [ Mustang ], the Quebec government and Investissement Quebec, their support is important. While we launched Nano One here in Quebec, we are looking forward to working with them on future plans. Economy will require millions of tons of battery materials. So it is critically important to produce these materials at scale efficiently and with the lowest environmental footprint. Rio Tinto brings deep experience in high-volume production, environmental stewardship and technology commercialization as well as a growing battery metals business. [Interpreted] We are thrilled to be associated with Rio Tinto in the province of Quebec and with the government of Canada. Thank you.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Mr. Blondal. What a great partnership it will be. Now Mr. Didier Arseguel, VP of Technology at Rio Tinto Iron and Titanium.

[Interpreted] Hello, everyone. Dear guests, I'm very happy to be in the name of Rio Tinto to participate to this announcement. A strategic partnership with Nano One, first, will fit in the transition of the energy and also in the various governmental strategy, namely, the strategy to -- for the mine and [ certificate ] for mobility of the government of Canada. Also the strategy of the Quebec government to develop the battery and their will, very clear will, to position Rio Tinto as a key stakeholder in this transition. This business opportunity and partnership with Nano One fits with our desire to develop strategic numbers, fill the -- so we see opportunities to use our iron powder from Quebec, namely, from our production unit in Sorel-Tracy in Rio Tinto, of also from the -- where [indiscernible] comes from in [indiscernible] for raw material. Our contribution to the supply chain, local and North American battery allow us to work hand-in-hand with our government partners, but also institutional to consolidate this ecosystem. Concretely, as it was said, this translates by an investment of $10 million with Nano One. Clearly, Rio Tinto believes in the potential of this technology, and also this investment will give us a much larger, broader perspective on the sector of battery materials and future needs. Our ambition very clearly is to become an important stakeholder in the area sector of battery materials, namely, with lithium. You may have read the various announcements. We have enriched our projects by acquiring the Project Rincon lithium in Argentina earlier this year. During the last few months, collaboration, technical collaboration with our teams and also the teams from Nano One have made it possible for us to realize that our organizations have a common goal and the value of synergy. And as you mentioned, so together, we are part of a solution. As Technology Vice President, I am very proud to mention the talent, the knowledge and the expertise of my team at the Central -- we're a breaking sort of [indiscernible]. The innovation is an integral part of their DNA. Everything starts with an idea, and thanks to these people, these groups, it will become an industrial reality and it's very clear, and we have proven it. They have developed, for example, a process that allows us to extract and to produce the scandium oxide from mining and recently, we've become the first producer in North America of highly pure scandium, scandium being part of the critical minerals. To finish, yesterday, the -- we went with Dan and his team to the center in Sorel-Tracy, and I can tell you that this visit confirmed that we have made the right decision going forward with this partnership. A collaborative partnership that I hope will become very fruitful, obviously, and mainly that it would bring long-term solutions. Thank you very much.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Didier. Indeed, a very exciting project for Rio Tinto. And now, we invite the Honorable Minister Wilkinson to speak to us. Mr. Minister?

[Interpreted] Thank you very much, and welcome to all of you. Additional and unseated territory of the [indiscernible], a place which has long served as a site of meeting and exchange amongst nations. [Interpreted] I am thrilled to be here today to participate in this important announcement. I want to also thank Rio Tinto and Nano One for the invitation today. Quite well, Nano One's head office is located actually very close to my home, and I have visited the company several times. Rio Tinto is an important player in Canada's mining sector, and that very much includes my home province of British Columbia. [Interpreted] Montreal global economy is changing quickly. Everywhere in the world, financial markets are integrating the climate risk in their investment decisions. They want to go away from actives that are not compatible with the transition, so it's neutral, and business opportunities that are the trend. Now, competitive rates between the world's economies and enterprises. And I'm certainly pleased to say, as evidenced by this project announced today, that Canada is increasingly at the front of the pack. [Interpreted] Value of critical levels will be important for economic growth and develop a tough carbon economy that will be weak in carbon emissions. It includes batteries like for electric vehicles. Integral to battery manufacturing and a whole range of other technologies critical to the energy transition. Minerals such as graphite, cobalt, lithium are set to skyrocket by up to 500% in terms of demand by 2050. Given Canada's known deposits and untapped mineral potential for each of these key resources needed to produce batteries and other relevant products, not to mention our manufacturing sectors, Canada is well positioned to develop a globally competitive value chain. [Interpreted] Critical minerals offer a great opportunity for Canada for growth creation of jobs and for climate actions. They also offer important opportunity to follow the economical reconciliation with the people. As you know, federal government in our last project wants to invest in more than $4 billion for the implementation of the strategy of critical minerals, a strategy that will guide our efforts to grasp these opportunities and contribute to establish a value chain of critical minerals in Canada. We are investing through the prior mining ecosystem research innovation and exploration of development in other infrastructures and projects through international partnerships. This critical mineral strategy next week during PDAC, which I think a lot of folks are going to be there. As we complete and implement Canada's critical minerals strategy, we look to companies like Nano One and Rio Tinto to lead the way. That technology, the Nano One -- [Interpreted] For the production of the [indiscernible] material and relationship that's been established with mineral producers, brings us closer to our objective of establishing a supply chain sustainable for lithium battery in Canada. In this time, Rio Tinto, already an important stakeholder on a mining scene in Canada, thanks to the investment of $10 million, collaborates actively with Nano One for the research and development on top of accelerating the development of the value chain of critical minerals. The importance of innovation to improve productivity, enhance environmental performance, and reduce the carbon footprint of its operations. The partnership between these 2 companies is very promising indeed. [Interpreted] This partnership is based on recent goals on the value chain. Over the past year only, the government has received [ $6 million ] in investments in the automobile sector, particularly in the building of electric vehicles and developing batteries. In the future, we will continue to mobilize in the industry and the government to attract investments that will create thousands of jobs at every step of the value chain of critical minerals in Canada from exploration to the recycling. Our objective -- In every region of this country, while concurrently ensuring that we meet our ambitious and necessary climate commitments. Partnerships such as this one between Nano One and Rio Tinto will help us to do just that. So congratulations to all those involved. [Interpreted] And thank you for your innovative work.

[Interpreted] Thank you, Minister. I'll give the microphone to Simone [indiscernible], Media Relations. And for the question period, and invite our 3 guests to come to the front, please.

So we will now proceed to the question period. [Interpreted] Firstly, I just want to check if there's media in the room? If yes, then -- [indiscernible] There's no question, so we will now move to the webcast. If you wish to ask a question, please raise your hand so -- [Interpreted] So we have the question from Julian [indiscernible] from [indiscernible]. Please go ahead.

Maybe just to check, is there -- can we see there is a contribution from the Quebec government or the federal government in this announcement today? A financial contribution, whether it's alone or a grant or the target [indiscernible]?

There is not an investment from the federal government, and I don't believe there is one either from the Quebec government today. It's an announcement that stresses the importance of the critical mineral sector, and we will have further announcements next week in Toronto during the mining conference.

Maybe a follow up from Mr. Arseguel. I would like to know the reasoning or the thesis that in sighted you to encourage you to partner with Nano One? Maybe a partnership on a smaller scale, maybe that's not the best expression. But start with the step before going further, why take -- participate in the company rather than do it yourselves? Maybe give us the reason behind the logic here.

Sir, Rio Tinto focuses on production of critical minerals and minerals that fit into the constitution of batteries. Our objective is, as we've mentioned, to understand the need -- the current needs and future needs for the needs in this area and for the materials that will be used. So that is the objective.

Maybe one wider, broader question. I spoke about the lithium that is found in Argentina and what was found there, it was followed by an investment that did not work in Serbia. And what are -- what brings Quebec in the lithium to maybe be plan B for Rio Tinto in this sector?

The important point here is that Rio Tinto wants to become a major stakeholder in the battery sector and wants to position itself from there. We have, as I've mentioned, enriched our project portfolio and all options are being investigated currently. That's where we're at for the moment.

And maybe for Mr. [indiscernible], maybe it's easier in English or in French, but we'll start in French. We'll translate if necessary. Up to what point of Nano One is it important to find a partner that would bring capitals to your development stage? Was it essential? Or is it because, well, you had an opportunity to associate with the player in the size of Rio Tinto in this filing?

[Interpreted] I understood well, but I think I will answer. It's very important for us to bring strategic investment into the company because it really shows our -- the investment community and our other partners that there is a serious recognition of the technology that we have developed and are bringing forward. So I think it turns a page for Nano One, and I think puts this on basically on an international stage with one of the largest materials companies in the world. We're very happy to be in this situation.

Yes, Mr. [indiscernible]. [Interpreted] Thank you, Mr. [indiscernible], there's a question in the room.

[indiscernible] in Canada. How do you see Chinese investments coming in, if it were to come in?

So the drivers behind the critical mineral strategy are 2 things. The first is the energy transition, and we must ensure access to run supplies of critical minerals to ensure we can build enough batteries and chargers and solar panels and wind turbines. But the second is the geopolitics. Many critical minerals right now are controlled and particularly processed in China, and many others are mined in Russia. I think it is in the aftermath of what we have seen, the terrible tragedies that are happening in Ukraine. It is incumbent upon democratic countries to ensure that there is access on an ongoing basis to the strategic critical minerals we will need. And in that context, Canada will be moving forward to develop those, but also to ensure that we are putting in place appropriate protection.

So would you say no to Chinese investment or to make it [indiscernible] were to be interested?

I would say that the whole discussion around how we ensure that Canada retains control of strategic assets like critical minerals is definitely something the government is working on now.

Fair enough. And just one other question. We've heard about, on a broader scale, the impact of the labor shortage in many, many industries. How do you see it from the perspective of battery? From the battery, so the whole supply chain?

Well, the labor shortage is certainly a challenge across many sectors of the economy. And I think that if you look at the supply chain, there probably are slightly different answers across it. The mining industry in Canada is the largest single employer of indigenous peoples in the country. And certainly, I think there is an enormous opportunity to ensure that we are finding ways to include indigenous peoples, not just as laborers and the workers in the mines, but also as project participants from an equity perspective. And I think there is an opportunity there in terms of addressing some of the labor force issues. But certainly, in terms of manufacturing of batteries and cars, we are going to, as a country, need to ensure that we are working to ensure that we are including all people in the labor force, and we're going to continue to need to rely on importing people through large-scale immigration. It's part of ensuring we have a strong economy going forward. But I would say being inclusive in terms of finding ways to give people the opportunity to be [indiscernible] the economy is very important. And that's why things like the investment in the day care program, which we borrowed from the province of Quebec, is all about inclusion. It's part of a social program, but a lot of it is an economic program about actually ensuring that people are participating in the labor force.

Would the companies have -- either company have anything to add about labor shortage and how you're sort of grappling with it?

Maybe I can just jump in quickly. As a small technology company, we are constantly faced with growth problems related to bringing people in. And we've made the decision to grow most of it organically within the company. And so we're bringing people up, usually youth, bringing them up and educating them about lithium ion batteries. They come with all the know-how, but we're building them up that way. But we're also -- we've also started doing it inorganically. The acquisition of Johnson Matthew Battery Materials brings in many, many hundreds of years of experience and know-how, and that's an incredibly important asset. Very hard to find these kinds of things specifically because it's battery specific. And then maybe lastly, the partnership with Rio Tinto does really the same thing. It brings in a partner with incredible sort of know how in very large scales, something that we at Nano One or even at Johnson Matthew really haven't experienced that. But we know it's coming because it's going to be an important part of scaling up to meet the terawatt-hour world or era of lithium-ion batteries. And it's going to be the know-how that the Rio Tinto has in large-scale manufacturing that will drive it. So that know-how, we believe will spread and organically throughout the company and allow us to grow more effective. I hope that helps.

Thank you, Mr. [indiscernible]. Do we have any other questions [Foreign Language]? We have a question from David Kennedy. If you can please just remind us which media you work for?

David Kennedy with Automotive News. I just have 2 questions actually, the first one is for Dan. And -- so the CAM plant that you acquired last month, as I understand, it is relatively small. And today, you've mentioned a terawatt-hour era a couple of times. So I'm just wondering what will it take to scale up that site? And what role could Rio Tinto play?

Yes. So I guess, first of all, just a small correction. We planned to acquire the Johnson Matthew site, so that doesn't close for a few months yet. But when we do, it be a platform, a launch pad for us into the cathode materials space both as a demonstration facility to prove that our technology works at a relevant scale to the automotive industry. As you say, the plant itself could not supply to the automotive industry in its current size. Our plans are to use that as a launch pad to develop larger facilities, potentially demonstrated on the site, potentially demonstrated elsewhere with our automotive partners. And that's how we plan to scale. It starts small, but we think big, and we go fast.

And just one more question from Mr. Wilkinson this time. Obviously, we've seen quite a few of these battery material announcements in Quebec so far. And I'm just wondering from the federal perspective, what progress is being made to get some of provinces involved?

So I guess it depends a little bit on the part of the value chain. But I'm not sure if you're aware, but last week, we announced a process, which we've entitled the Regional Energy and Natural Resource tables. Those are province by province, territory-by-territory tables that are essentially looking at the big opportunities that exist in the context of the transition to lower carbon future. In each province and territory, the opportunities, obviously, are going to be different in Alberta than they are in Quebec, than they are in Nova Scotia. And so focusing on those areas that are deemed to be the most significant by those provinces and territories looking to align resources, identify additional reserving that may be required, looking to align regulatory and permitting processes, engagement with indigenous peoples in a manner that will allow us to accelerate progress and enable success. In every province and territory in this country, I will tell you that critical minerals will be on the list with perhaps the exception of Prince Edward Island. Every province and territory has resources that they are looking to develop in this context. Some are certainly looking at processing and refining, that includes provinces in the western part of Canada. And then some provinces are obviously particularly focused on batteries and electric vehicle production. And Quebec has been a leader with respect to batteries, Ontario has been a leader with respect to electric vehicle production. So we're looking at the opportunities that will exist across the country. And I would tell you that there are many -- when, I should say -- and recycling. Recycling will also be a major economic activity as well.

Thank you. Do we have any other questions? [Foreign Language] [Interpreted] I don't think we have any more questions. So if [indiscernible] will conclude the meeting today?

Thank you, Simone. Yes, obviously, the event has come to an end. I would invite the guest of honor to stay for the photos. And I thank you all of you for your -- [Portions of this transcript that are marked [Interpreted were spoken by an interpreter present on the live call.]