It would be all too easy for investors to be dazzled by the jewels contained in Rio Tinto’s stunning interim earnings report for the six months ended June 30.

There’s the $US12.2 billon ($16.6 billion) in underlying earnings, the biggest six-month profit in Rio’s history. A monster $US5.61 per share dividend, easily the miner’s biggest interim payout ever. The staggering 124 per cent jump in earnings from its iron ore business, which at $US10.2 billion is yet another record. And the Rio share price, which sits near record highs having surged 63 per cent from the market’s nadir last March.