Rio Tinto will continue modernising agreements and negotiations with Traditional Owner groups across its Pilbara iron ore operations.

Outgoing chief executive Jakob Stausholm, who makes way for current iron ore boss Simon Trott on August 25, said four cyclones and lumbering iron ore prices had dented Rio Tinto's first-half profits by 22 per cent on the same period in 2024, but the miner's diversification in other commodities helped balance the result.

Delivering the company's half-yearly results to shareholders on Wednesday for the final time as CEO, Mr Stausholm also said Rio Tinto was striving to improve relations with Traditional Owners following the 2020 destruction of ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters in the Pilbara.

Mr Stausholm said Rio Tinto had shifted its approach to negotiations with Traditional Owners regarding environmental, cultural and heritage assessment on project-related land.

"We continue to strive to deepen trust and relationships with Indigenous peoples as we invest in cultural knowledge," he said.

Signs of improved relations in the first half of 2025 were evident by a co-management agreement signed in May with Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP), Traditional Owners of the land where the destruction at Juukan Gorge occurred.

The agreement was significant for its overarching framework guiding Rio Tinto's iron ore operations on PKKP Country, and formalised the company's engagement with PKKP on proposals affecting heritage and social surroundings throughout the mine's lifecycle, and ensured knowledge-sharing and joint design were central to operations on PKKP Country.

Traditional Owner agreements were flagged as a contingent liability, with Rio Tinto pledging to continue "modernising" agreements with TO groups after a loss in trust and global backlash from the damage at Juukan Gorge, which sparked a Parliamentary inquiry, global condemnation and the departure of key executives.

Mr Trott said the Juukan Gorge incident on May 24 brought "immeasurable pain" to the PKKP and "profoundly changed" Rio.

"Our actions were wrong. We failed to uphold our company values, and our systems and processes were inadequate," he said after the agreement with PKKP was announced.

"Simply put, it should never have happened, and for that we will forever be sorry."

Other significant progress on projects affecting heritage and social surroundings made by Rio Tinto included the opening of the Pilbara Western Range mine in June - the company's first project with a co-designed 'Social, Cultural and Heritage Management Plan' developed in collaboration with Yinhawangka Traditional Owners

Strong support from Traditional Owners was also evident after Rio Tinto gained approval to commence construction works at its Brockman Syncline 1 & Hope Downs 2 sites in the region.

PKKP Aboriginal Corporation chair Terry Drage said the co-management agreement with Rio Tinto gave Traditional Owners certainty important places on Country would be protected from mining, with the company receiving certainty on where they can develop earlier in the mine cycle.

"Ultimately, this is good for us as Traditional Owners, and it is good for business," Mr Drage said.

PKKP Traditional Owner and land committee chair Burchell Hayes said the corporation had worked closely with Rio Tinto since Juukan Gorge to make "significant progress in rebuilding our relationship".

"It is now where it should have been 14 years ago when we signed the Claim Wide Participation Agreement with Rio Tinto," he said.

"We have always said that relationships, not regulation, is what will protect our heritage, our culture and our Country, and this is the key behind co-management."