The boards of Rio Tinto plc and Rio Tinto Limited have noted the announcement today by BHP Billiton that it will not pursue its pre conditional Offers for the acquisition of Rio Tinto.

It said that “Rio Tinto will continue with its strategy of operating and developing large scale, long life, low cost assets to generate significant value for shareholders. Rio Tinto has an exceptional portfolio of cash-generative assets and significant stand alone growth opportunities.”