Rio Tinto’s Matt Holcz is on a $20b, two-decade mine opening treadmill

by · Australian Financial Review

Mark WembridgeResources reporter
Apr 6, 2026 – 8.00pm

It was a dead cat that taught Matt Holcz an early lesson in the difficulties of digging in the iron ore-rich earth of Western Australia’s Pilbara.

The then seven-year-old had moved to the mining town of Newman when the family feline kicked the bucket at the height of a scorching 1987 summer.

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Mark WembridgeResources reporterMark Wembridge covers resource companies for The Australian Financial Review, based in Perth. He formerly worked for the Financial Times in London and Hong Kong. Connect with Mark on Twitter. Email Mark at mark.wembridge@nine.com.au

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