Third quarter 2012 – operations overview and production statistics PALABORA MINING COMPANY LIMITED (Incorporated in the Republic of South Africa) Registration number – 1956/002134/06 JSE Code: PAM ISIN: ZAE000005245 (“Palabora” or “the Company”) THIRD QUARTER 2012 – OPERATIONS OVERVIEW AND PRODUCTION STATISTICS Copper production for the quarter was negatively impacted by the production shaft guide rope failure on the 4th July 2012. The production shaft was safely restored ahead of schedule on 9th September 2012. The guide rope incident affected ore hoisted, ore treated as well as concentrate, anodes and refined copper production. Refined copper production was a third of the normal quarterly output from running down in-process inventory. Higher grade 65% magnetite production was also affected by the guide rope incident although normal dispatches were maintained through increased reclamations of the lower grade 56% iron oxide from the stockpile. Magnetite production thus increased 4% and 98% compared to the previous and corresponding quarter in 2011 respectively, mainly from the road trucking to Maputo. The 2011 production was impacted by the Brakspruit bridge repair in addition to other logistical constraints. Vermiculite production remains aligned to reduced sales due to increased competition in the American market and lower demand in Europe. Opportune maintenance and annual shutdown in the copper production stream was brought forward to minimize disruptions in the fourth quarter of the year. The challenge during the third quarter was to preserve cash flows and the first half reported earnings were sufficient to absorb the effect of the third quarter lost production. Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 9 MTHS 9 MTHS 2011 2011 2012 2012 2012 2011 2012 Palabora mine Tonnes hoisted (‘000 tonnes) 3,024 2,403 2,759 2,729 734 8,340 6,222 Mined ore treated (‘000 tonnes) 2,969 2,434 2,615 2,691 745 8,115 6,051 Slag ore treated (‘000 tonnes) 164 411 306 198 237 827 741 Total ore treated ('000 tonnes) 3,133 2,845 2,921 2,889 982 8,942 6,792 Underground ore grade: copper (%) 0.63 0.63 0.60 0.59 0.60 0.65 0.60 Slag ore grade: copper (%) 1.78 1.13 1.66 1.63 1.61 1.50 1.63 Copper concentrates produced ('000 tonnes) 58.2 50.1 51.8 54.4 20.3 178 127 Average concentrate grade: copper (%) 31.2 29.9 30.4 28.8 27.3 30.5 29.2 Copper in concentrates ('000 tonnes) 18.2 15.0 15.7 15.6 5.6 54.2 36.9 New concentrate smelted on site ('000 tonnes) 45.4 60.4 56.1 51.3 6.1 170 114 New copper anodes produced ('000 tonnes) 10.8 15.7 14.7 13.8 1.2 44 30 Refined new copper produced ('000 tonnes) 10.2 16.7 15.0 12.4 4.7 42.3 32.1 Joint product: Magnetite concentrate ('000 tonnes) 744 985 957 1,420 1,475 2,444 3,852 By-product: Nickel contained in products (tonnes) 23 9 14 13 2 78 29 Copper sold as concentrate ('000 tonnes) 3 0.6 - - - 5 - Vermiculite plant Vermiculite produced ('000 tonnes) 48 23 47 29 27 142 103 The above information has not been reviewed or reported on by the Company’s auditors. Phalaborwa 15 October 2012 Investor Relations Contact: Dikeledi Nakene, Palabora +27 15 780 2277 Media Contact: Keith Mathole Palabora +27 15 780 2182 Gugulakhe Lourie, Rio Tinto South Africa +27 11 911 9700 Sponsor: One Capital Date: 15/10/2012 04:20:00 Produced by the JSE SENS Department. The SENS service is an information dissemination service administered by the JSE Limited ('JSE'). The JSE does not, whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, represent, warrant or in any way guarantee the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information published on SENS. The JSE, their officers, employees and agents accept no liability for (or in respect of) any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential loss or damage of any kind or nature, howsoever arising, from the use of SENS or the use of, or reliance on, information disseminated through SENS.