Richards Bay Minerals (Rio Tinto)

Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) is South Africa’s largest mineral sands producer and a world leader in heavy mineral sands extraction and refining. RBM mines the mineral-rich coastal dunes of northern KwaZulu-Natal and produces mainly zircon, rutile, iron and titanium slag, materials used in products from paint to smartphones and sunscreen.

Registered name

Richards Bay Minerals (Rio Tinto)

Type

Mining company (mineral sands, Rio Tinto joint venture)

Fields funded

Core: extractive metallurgy, electrical and mechanical engineering. Non-core: fields such as law and safety management

Website

riotinto.com

Owned with host communities

RBM is a joint venture between Rio Tinto, which owns 74%, and Blue Horizon, a consortium of investors and RBM’s four host communities, Mbonambi, Sokhulu, Mkhwanazi and Dube, which owns 24%. An employee trust holds the remaining shares. RBM has contributed to the KwaZulu-Natal and South African economy for 50 years, and in 2024 contributed R7 billion, including R218 million in mining royalties and R1.1 billion in corporate income tax.

Rio Tinto itself takes its name from ancient mines on the Rio Tinto, or red river, in Huelva, Spain. The Rio Tinto Company was registered in London on 29 March 1873.

Rebuilding coastal forest

RBM mines sand dunes and then rehabilitates them. After removing minerals, RBM reshapes the dunes to mimic their original shape, spreads topsoil containing indigenous forest seed, and plants fast-growing annuals to protect the soil. RBM has rehabilitated more than 3 600 hectares with native plants, gradually restoring coastal dune forest, and more than 35 scientific studies have examined the work.

RBM operates four mines in the Zulti North lease area, a mineral separation plant and a smelter. The US$463 million Zulti South project, approved in 2019 to extend the mine’s life, is pending approvals, and Rio Tinto says it will reassess a restart at an appropriate time.

Core and non-core bursaries

RBM’s bursary runs two streams. The core stream funds BSc or BEng study in extractive metallurgy, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering, the technical skills RBM runs on. The non-core stream supports fields such as law and safety management. RBM awards bursaries to Grade 12 learners with strong potential and financial need, prioritising women, people with disabilities and under-represented groups, according to a provider record checked in August 2026. Bursars gain vacation work and internships, with a possible route into Rio Tinto graduate programmes, but no fixed work-back contract is published.

How to research RBM

BursariesAfrica’s older RBM guide has not been refreshed with 2027 dates, so check Rio Tinto’s careers site for South African bursary adverts. Read about RBM’s dune rehabilitation if you study environmental science, and ask whether host community residents receive preference.

See our metallurgy bursaries list.