WE’VE DONE SOME DIGGING TO BUST A FEW PERVASIVE MYTHS ABOUT ROCKS, MINERALS AND MINING.

As one of the world’s biggest mining companies, rocks are a huge part of our day-to-day operations.

We find them, study them, uncover them, and find new and better ways to turn them into a range of products that the world needs.

But we’ve noticed that several myths about rocks seem to stick around – so we spoke to some experts on our team to set the record straight.

Myth #1: Geology isn’t real science
When you think of science, you’re likely picturing test tubes, lab coats and experiments. But science often looks quite different.

Between scientific disciplines there’s often good-natured banter about what constitutes “real” science – and fields like geology often get accused of being “imposters”.

But Ian, our Head of Orebody Knowledge, explains exactly why geology is definitely a science.

Rocks
“Geologists study the materials processes and history of the earth, investigating how rocks were formed and what has happened to them since,” Ian says.

“This tells us a lot about how the physical earth and atmosphere behaved in the past and gives us insights into how it may change in the future.

“Importantly, geology allows us to find important natural concentrations of minerals that have proven to be useful for building everything, from your car to your mobile phone, as well as the minerals and metals required to decarbonise the earth.”

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https://www.riotinto.com/en/news/stories/busting-some-rocky-myths