Rio Tinto copper mine boosted by US Supreme Court decision
Washington | The US Supreme Court cleared a major obstacle to Rio Tinto's construction of North America's largest copper mine, rejecting an appeal by a Native American group that said the Arizona project will destroy a sacred area.
The appeal sought to block a 2422-acre (980-hectare) federal land transfer crucial to the Resolution Copper mine. The land includes Oak Flat, a site where Western Apaches say they have conducted religious ceremonies for centuries, including a four-day rite to mark the coming of age of young women.
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ABC News
02-06-2025
- ABC News
Juukan Gorge traditional owners sign landmark agreement with Rio Tinto
Just over five years after Rio Tinto destroyed sacred sites at Juukan Gorge in WA's Pilbara region, the area's traditional owners have signed a new deal with the mining giant. The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) Aboriginal Corporation and Rio Tinto announced the deal, which governs the company's iron ore operations on PKKP lands, on Monday morning. In a statement, the corporation says the deal gives traditional owners a "much greater say" about what happens on their country. It comes after years of tense relations between the PKKP people and Rio Tinto in the wake of the destruction of 47,000-year-old rock shelters. The new agreement appears to be a turning point, including commitments for both parties to work together at all stages of mining, which PKKP Aboriginal Corporation CEO Grant Wilson has described as groundbreaking and innovative. Pinikura traditional owner and corporation chair Terry Drage said it would also give Rio Tinto more certainty about where it could develop much earlier in the mine cycle. "Ultimately, this is good for us as traditional owners, and it is good for business," Mr Drage said. PKKP chief heritage officer Jordan Ralph has been outspoken about the flaws of the WA government's current heritage legislation, but said this new agreement went far beyond protections in the Aboriginal Heritage Act. "In the past, mining companies would only start engaging meaningfully with traditional owners at the end of their study process, after they have spent lots of capital and have put all their eggs in one basket by making key decisions without traditional owner involvement," Dr Ralph said. "What we've done here is remove that situation from the equation. We engage early, we give the mine planners the information they need, we remove important heritage from the mine plan, and we design the mine together." He said part of the agreement included a heritage protocol, which had strategies to protect sites through buffers, blast management and fencing. Rio Tinto said the the agreement reinforced its commitment to rehabilitate the Juukan Gorge area. "The destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters on May 24, 2020 brought immeasurable pain to the PKKP and profoundly changed our company," Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Simon Trott said. "Through the open and gracious sharing of knowledge and experiences, the PKKP have helped to shape a renewed approach to managing cultural heritage protection and mining activities."
News.com.au
02-06-2025
- News.com.au
Rio Tinto, Juukan Gorge traditional owners sign deal after 2020 caves destruction
The traditional owners of land destroyed by Rio Tinto's explosives in 2020 have signed a management agreement with the mining giant. 'This is a groundbreaking and innovative agreement,' PKKP Aboriginal Corporation chairman Terry Drage said. 'I believe it will change the way mining is carried out, certainly in the Pilbara, and hopefully across Australia. 'The PKKP community have made it clear to me that they are not against mining, it just has to be undertaken in a culturally sensitive way, with traditional owners at the forefront.' In May 2020, Rio Tinto destroyed the prized, 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge in WA's Pilbara region. On Monday, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Aboriginal Corporation announced it had signed a management agreement with Rio Tinto. The agreement guarantees traditional owners 'will receive certainty that our important places on country will be protected from mining, while at the same time Rio Tinto will receive certainty around where they can develop much earlier in the mine cycle,' Mr Drage said in a statement. Rio Tinto's legal destruction of the heritage site in 2020 garnered international news coverage and sparked a federal parliamentary inquiry. The inquiry concluded Rio Tinto 'knew the value of what they were destroying but blew it up anyway'. 'Rio Tinto's conduct reflects a corporate culture which prioritised commercial gain over the kind of meaningful engagement with traditional owners that should form a critical part of their social licence to operate,' the final report said. The Western Australian government was already drafting new Indigenous heritage laws when the two caves were destroyed. The state government, under considerable pressure from the farming and resources sectors, then backflipped and revoked the laws just five weeks after they took effect in 2023. Rio Tinto has been paying a PKKP Aboriginal Corporation-linked charity undisclosed amounts since the caves were destroyed. The dollar figure has been kept secret to avoid putting a price on heritage. On Monday, Rio Tinto chief executive Simon Trott again admitted the blasting of the caves was a mistake. 'Our actions were wrong. We failed to uphold our company values, and our systems and processes were inadequate,' he said. 'Simply put, it should never have happened, and for that we will forever be sorry.' The First Nations corporation had graciously educated Rio Tinto, he said. 'Through the open and gracious sharing of knowledge and experiences, the PKKP have helped to shape a renewed approach to managing cultural heritage protection and mining activities,' Mr Trott said. The two Juukan caves had been cared for by the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura/Binigura people for more than 40,000 years. The shelters had been archaeologically excavated multiple times and contained a high number of artefacts and stone tools, preserved human hair, and pollen sediments that mapped thousands of years of ecological history.
AU Financial Review
27-05-2025
- AU Financial Review
Rio Tinto copper mine boosted by US Supreme Court decision
Washington | The US Supreme Court cleared a major obstacle to Rio Tinto's construction of North America's largest copper mine, rejecting an appeal by a Native American group that said the Arizona project will destroy a sacred area. The appeal sought to block a 2422-acre (980-hectare) federal land transfer crucial to the Resolution Copper mine. The land includes Oak Flat, a site where Western Apaches say they have conducted religious ceremonies for centuries, including a four-day rite to mark the coming of age of young women.
