Rio Tinto Selected To Provide Metal For 2012 Olympics

For the second time, the first being 2002's Salt Lake City games, Rio Tinto is going to provide the metal for the medals in London's 2012 games.

By signing up as a tier-three backer of the games, Rio Tinto's sponsorship will be worth about $16 million....

The metals for the London medals will come from the Kennecott Utah Copper mine in Salt Lake City and the Oyu Tolgoi site in Mongolia.

Good for Rio Tinto. Perhaps surprisingly, there've been no attempts to get gold from special locales for the Olympics - like the use of Welsh gold for royal wedding rings.