London 2012 Lands Official Mining & Metals Provider

Olympics website insidethegames.biz is reporting that Rio Tinto will become a domestic Tier Three sponsor of the London 2012 Games as the Official Mining and Metals Provider and the 40th domestic sponsor.

Rio Tinto will exclusively provide the metal to produce the 4,700 gold, silver and bronze medals at the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The metal has been sourced from Rio Tinto's global network of mines extending from Rio Tinto's Kennecott Utah Copper mine near Salt Lake City, US, and from our Oyu Tolgoi project in Mongolia.

"All of us at Rio Tinto are excited to have the special job once again of digging the ore that will become treasured medals for the world's elite athletes," Tom Albanese, Rio Tinto CEO said.

This is the second time we have supplied the metal for Olympic medals, having previously done so for the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics.

"It is an honour for Rio Tinto to contribute to the production of the Olympic medals - such an enduring symbol of achievement," Rio Tinto's website reads. "We think it is a good way for us to tell our story with a global audience and share more about what we do and the sustainable way we do it."

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