As the official mining and metals provider to the Games, Rio Tinto will contribute towards 4,700 medals under the terms of the ‘tier three’ domestic sponsorship. The raw materials will come from Rio Tinto’s Utah Copper and Oyu Tolgoi mines in Salt Lake City and Mongolia, respectively.
Rio Tinto also supplied the metals for the medals at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City in the United States. London 2012’s ‘tier three’ sponsors tend to be service-related rather than purely financial.
“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,” said Rio Tinto chief executive officer Tom Albanese.
Chris Townsend, commercial director of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), added: “The medals are one of the great traditions and enduring images of any Olympic or Paralympic Games, so Rio Tinto will play a significant role in the successful delivery of London 2012.”
The design and composition of the medals is being worked on at the moment and details will be finalised later this year, while the medals themselves will be produced by the UK’s Royal Mint.
