Rio Tinto, Juukan Gorge traditional owners sign deal after 2020 caves destruction
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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 iron ore 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.
Originally published as Rio Tinto, Juukan Gorge traditional owners sign deal after 2020 caves destruction
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ABC News
15 hours ago
- ABC News
Bougainville wants independence. China's support for a controversial mine could pave the way
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Given this, the possibility of China's increasing presence in Bougainville raises concerns about shifting allegiances and the potential for Beijing to exert greater influence over the region. A boy sits at the bottom of the Panguna mine in Bougainville, December 12, 2019. ( ABC News: Natalie Whiting ) Australia's tangled history in Bougainville Bougainville is a small island group in the South Pacific with a population of about 300,000. It consists of two main islands: Buka in the north and Bougainville Island in the south. Bougainville has a long history of unwanted interference from outsiders, including missionaries, plantation owners and colonial administrations (German, British, Japanese and Australian). Two weeks before Papua New Guinea received its independence from Australia in 1975, Bougainvilleans sought to split away, unilaterally declaring their own independence. This declaration was ignored in both Canberra and Port Moresby, but Bougainville was given a certain degree of autonomy to remain within the new nation of PNG. The opening of the Panguna mine in the 1970s further fractured relations between Australia and Bougainville. Landowners opposed the environmental degradation and limited revenues they received from the mine. The influx of foreign workers from Australia, PNG and China also led to resentment. Violent resistance grew, eventually halting mining operations and expelling almost all foreigners. Under the leadership of Francis Ona, the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) fought a long civil war to restore Bougainville to Me'ekamui, or the "Holy Land" it once was. Australia supported the PNG government's efforts to quell the uprising with military equipment, including weapons and helicopters. After the war ended, Australia helped broker the Bougainville Peace Agreement in 2001. Although aid programs have since begun to heal the rift between Australia and Bougainville, many Bougainvilleans feel Canberra continues to favour PNG's territorial integrity. Protesters at a roadblock on the access road to the Panguna mine, Bougainville in 2016. ( ABC News: Eric Tlozek ) In 2019, Bougainvilleans voted overwhelmingly for independence in a referendum. Australia's response, however, was ambiguous. Despite a slow and frustrating ratification process, Bougainvilleans remain adamant they will become independent by 2027. As Bougainville President Ishmael Toroama, a former BRA commander, told me in 2024: We are moving forward. And it's the people's vision: independence. I'm saying, no earlier than 2025, no later than 2027. My benchmark is 2026, the first of September. I will declare. No matter what happens. I will declare independence on our republican constitution. 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With September 1, 2026 just around the corner, it is time for Australia to intensify its diplomatic and economic relationships with Bougainville to maintain regional stability. Anna-Karina Hermkens, Senior Lecturer and Researcher, Anthropology, Macquarie University. This piece first appeared on The Conversation.
The Advertiser
20 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Govt made $23.9m change to support Indigenous businesses without knowing if policy was effective
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"We know that since the IPP started in 2015, over 80,000 contracts have been awarded, with a total value of over $11.4 billion (up from the $10 billion announced in October)." However, five years on from an initial audit of the program and increasing billions being spent under the policy, there was limited data to show the dollars were improving the lives of Indigenous Australians, the audit office found. The first audit, published in 2020, recommended the NIAA implement an evaluation strategy. This was developed but never implemented. The follow-up 2025 audit found that while entities were including the policy requirement at the start of contracts, there was incomplete reporting of how these requirements were fulfilled in practice and performance measures did not align with the policy's intent. "The [National Indigenous Australians Agency] public reporting on the IPP does not provide information on the MMRs' effectiveness. It is unclear if the IPP's objectives of stimulating Indigenous entrepreneurship, business and economic development, and providing Indigenous Australians with more opportunities to participate in the economy, are achieved." Of those contracts entered into since the policy came into effect, less than 20 per cent had a final compliance assessment at the end of the contract. Of those that did, over a quarter were found not to have met the target. Support for implementing the policy, including guidance documents for Indigenous businesses, remained in draft or were incomplete; in addition, agencies were incorrectly exempting themselves from the requirements. While observers have hailed the "success" of the program, given agencies were spending more under the policy, this did not mean the policy was achieving its intent of supporting Indigenous Australians. "The information [contract number and value] does not go to the effectiveness of the IPP in achieving its stated objective (which is to 'stimulate Indigenous entrepreneurship, business and economic development, providing Indigenous Australians with more opportunities to participate in the economy')," the ANAO report found Senator McCarthy did not respond directly to the concerns raised in the report, but said the reforms would improve the policy and crack down on "black cladding". "The government's reforms strengthened eligibility criteria, requiring businesses to be 51 per cent First Nations owned and controlled (or to be registered as an Indigenous Corporation). They also lifted the Commonwealth's Indigenous procurement target and committed to working with regulators to better target and tackle 'black cladding'." The report made eight recommendations, all of which were agreed to by the NIAA and other agencies. The Albanese government announced $23.9 million to improve the government purchasing of goods and services from Indigenous businesses without knowing if the policy was effective or not. A report from the Australian National Audit Office has found there was limited evidence about whether the Commonwealth Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) was improving the lives of Indigenous Australians, despite agencies spending tens of billions of dollars on contracts designed to support Indigenous economic empowerment. In February and as part of the March budget, Labor announced measures to "strengthen" the policy, however, as the report outlines, there is no evidence that the policy works. "The National Indigenous Australians Agency has not demonstrated whether the [mandatory minimum requirements] are improving Indigenous economic participation," the report notes. "Reforms to the Indigenous Procurement Policy were announced in February 2025 without a clear understanding of the policy's effectiveness." The IPP was first introduced in 2015 to encourage government agencies to purchase from Indigenous-owned businesses and organisations in order to improve outcomes for Indigenous people. As part of the policy, there are mandatory minimum requirements (MMRs) for contracts worth more than $7.5 million. The requirements include a minimum percentage of Indigenous employment on a contract, either 3 or 4 per cent, depending on the contract. While the policy has widespread support within the sector, there have been concerns raised that despite the amount of government spending on Indigenous procurement, that money does not always end up in Indigenous hands. A parliamentary inquiry in November 2024 said so called "black-cladding" was occurring, where non-Indigenous companies partnered with First Nations organisations, without the First Nations organisation having control or benefiting from the procurement. In response to this and other inquiries, in February 2025, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy announced changes to "strengthen" the Indigenous Procurement Policy, including lifting the targets and changing the ownership rules to qualify as an Indigenous business. "These reforms, based on consultations with Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses, Chambers of Commerce and various levels of government, will create even more opportunities for First Nations businesses," Senator McCarthy said at the time. This was followed up with a $23.9 million funding boost in the 2025 budget. In response to questions from this masthead, Senator McCarthy said the important policy supported the growth of Indigenous businesses. "We know that since the IPP started in 2015, over 80,000 contracts have been awarded, with a total value of over $11.4 billion (up from the $10 billion announced in October)." However, five years on from an initial audit of the program and increasing billions being spent under the policy, there was limited data to show the dollars were improving the lives of Indigenous Australians, the audit office found. The first audit, published in 2020, recommended the NIAA implement an evaluation strategy. This was developed but never implemented. The follow-up 2025 audit found that while entities were including the policy requirement at the start of contracts, there was incomplete reporting of how these requirements were fulfilled in practice and performance measures did not align with the policy's intent. "The [National Indigenous Australians Agency] public reporting on the IPP does not provide information on the MMRs' effectiveness. It is unclear if the IPP's objectives of stimulating Indigenous entrepreneurship, business and economic development, and providing Indigenous Australians with more opportunities to participate in the economy, are achieved." Of those contracts entered into since the policy came into effect, less than 20 per cent had a final compliance assessment at the end of the contract. Of those that did, over a quarter were found not to have met the target. Support for implementing the policy, including guidance documents for Indigenous businesses, remained in draft or were incomplete; in addition, agencies were incorrectly exempting themselves from the requirements. While observers have hailed the "success" of the program, given agencies were spending more under the policy, this did not mean the policy was achieving its intent of supporting Indigenous Australians. "The information [contract number and value] does not go to the effectiveness of the IPP in achieving its stated objective (which is to 'stimulate Indigenous entrepreneurship, business and economic development, providing Indigenous Australians with more opportunities to participate in the economy')," the ANAO report found Senator McCarthy did not respond directly to the concerns raised in the report, but said the reforms would improve the policy and crack down on "black cladding". "The government's reforms strengthened eligibility criteria, requiring businesses to be 51 per cent First Nations owned and controlled (or to be registered as an Indigenous Corporation). They also lifted the Commonwealth's Indigenous procurement target and committed to working with regulators to better target and tackle 'black cladding'." The report made eight recommendations, all of which were agreed to by the NIAA and other agencies. The Albanese government announced $23.9 million to improve the government purchasing of goods and services from Indigenous businesses without knowing if the policy was effective or not. A report from the Australian National Audit Office has found there was limited evidence about whether the Commonwealth Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) was improving the lives of Indigenous Australians, despite agencies spending tens of billions of dollars on contracts designed to support Indigenous economic empowerment. In February and as part of the March budget, Labor announced measures to "strengthen" the policy, however, as the report outlines, there is no evidence that the policy works. "The National Indigenous Australians Agency has not demonstrated whether the [mandatory minimum requirements] are improving Indigenous economic participation," the report notes. "Reforms to the Indigenous Procurement Policy were announced in February 2025 without a clear understanding of the policy's effectiveness." The IPP was first introduced in 2015 to encourage government agencies to purchase from Indigenous-owned businesses and organisations in order to improve outcomes for Indigenous people. As part of the policy, there are mandatory minimum requirements (MMRs) for contracts worth more than $7.5 million. The requirements include a minimum percentage of Indigenous employment on a contract, either 3 or 4 per cent, depending on the contract. While the policy has widespread support within the sector, there have been concerns raised that despite the amount of government spending on Indigenous procurement, that money does not always end up in Indigenous hands. A parliamentary inquiry in November 2024 said so called "black-cladding" was occurring, where non-Indigenous companies partnered with First Nations organisations, without the First Nations organisation having control or benefiting from the procurement. In response to this and other inquiries, in February 2025, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy announced changes to "strengthen" the Indigenous Procurement Policy, including lifting the targets and changing the ownership rules to qualify as an Indigenous business. "These reforms, based on consultations with Indigenous and non-Indigenous businesses, Chambers of Commerce and various levels of government, will create even more opportunities for First Nations businesses," Senator McCarthy said at the time. This was followed up with a $23.9 million funding boost in the 2025 budget. In response to questions from this masthead, Senator McCarthy said the important policy supported the growth of Indigenous businesses. "We know that since the IPP started in 2015, over 80,000 contracts have been awarded, with a total value of over $11.4 billion (up from the $10 billion announced in October)." However, five years on from an initial audit of the program and increasing billions being spent under the policy, there was limited data to show the dollars were improving the lives of Indigenous Australians, the audit office found. The first audit, published in 2020, recommended the NIAA implement an evaluation strategy. This was developed but never implemented. The follow-up 2025 audit found that while entities were including the policy requirement at the start of contracts, there was incomplete reporting of how these requirements were fulfilled in practice and performance measures did not align with the policy's intent. "The [National Indigenous Australians Agency] public reporting on the IPP does not provide information on the MMRs' effectiveness. It is unclear if the IPP's objectives of stimulating Indigenous entrepreneurship, business and economic development, and providing Indigenous Australians with more opportunities to participate in the economy, are achieved." Of those contracts entered into since the policy came into effect, less than 20 per cent had a final compliance assessment at the end of the contract. Of those that did, over a quarter were found not to have met the target. Support for implementing the policy, including guidance documents for Indigenous businesses, remained in draft or were incomplete; in addition, agencies were incorrectly exempting themselves from the requirements. While observers have hailed the "success" of the program, given agencies were spending more under the policy, this did not mean the policy was achieving its intent of supporting Indigenous Australians. "The information [contract number and value] does not go to the effectiveness of the IPP in achieving its stated objective (which is to 'stimulate Indigenous entrepreneurship, business and economic development, providing Indigenous Australians with more opportunities to participate in the economy')," the ANAO report found Senator McCarthy did not respond directly to the concerns raised in the report, but said the reforms would improve the policy and crack down on "black cladding". "The government's reforms strengthened eligibility criteria, requiring businesses to be 51 per cent First Nations owned and controlled (or to be registered as an Indigenous Corporation). They also lifted the Commonwealth's Indigenous procurement target and committed to working with regulators to better target and tackle 'black cladding'." The report made eight recommendations, all of which were agreed to by the NIAA and other agencies.
News.com.au
20 hours ago
- News.com.au
The iron ore and steel market moves with the times as Pilbara mines degrade
Aussie iron ore grades have been declining for years Steel mills in China have been adapting to lower grades and higher impurities from Pilbara ores Fastmarkets launches new 61% Fe Index to reflect shifting sands of iron ore and steel market For several years the calling cry of the iron ore market was that grades would need to push higher, products become cleaner and quality control tighter to meet the demands of a Chinese steel sector seeking to reduce the emissions of its heavily polluting industry. In reality the opposite has happened. And the market has shown its inexhaustible adaptability in the face of changes thrust on it by macroeconomic pressures. This week just gone Chinese rebar futures tumbled to an eight-year low amid a property sector bust that has torpedoed the profitability of China's steel mills. Yet Chinese steel production remains on track to settle around the billion tonne mark for a sixth straight year. The response from mill operators has been to use lower grade material that costs less, aided by lower coking coal prices. It also measures up with what the Pilbara's majors have been shipping. Grades from BHP (ASX:BHP) and Rio Tinto's (ASX:RIO) Pilbara mines have been sliding for years. Rio, notably, recently told customers its Pilbara Blend fines would drop from long term grades of 61.6% Fe to 60.8% Fe from July to September this year. BHP downgraded its Mining Area C and Newman High Grade Fines products last year. It reflects a trend that will continue until the majors invest in replacement mines that can arrest the decline, now seemingly baked into their operations, with BHP and RIO regularly reporting price realisations at a discount to the Platts 62% IODEX. In response another price setter, Fastmarkets, has delivered one of the biggest changes to its indices in years, with the launch of a 61% Fe index. Its first trading day on Monday June 2 reported that price a US$92.09/t, below the 62% Fe benchmark of US$93.65/t. In many ways, it will likely give investors, and bean counters at the WA and Federal Governments, a more accurate picture of how much Rio and BHP's iron ore is actually pulling in. "I think there's a lot of interest over the 61% index as it now starts to represent the major mid-grade iron ore segment, especially for Australian ores," Fastmarkets regional managing editor Paul Lim said. "So I think miners and investors all around the world will be looking at the 61% Fe Index as a key barometer of how the Australian mining sector as well as how the Chinese economy is doing as a whole." Both sides of the belt The relationship between Australia's iron ore mines and China's steel market is often described as a conveyor belt which runs over the ocean. So smooth is the network from mine to port in the Pilbara to factory door in Hebei, that it has enabled BHP, Rio, Roy Hill and Fortescue (ASX:FMG) to run at costs that make them the most profitable in the mining sector globally. Even at record prices, gold producers are only now pulling in sales revenues at levels approaching double their cost base. Iron ore miners, on the other hand, receive sales prices that are roughly four times their per tonne cash costs, and that's in a bearish market. With grades slipping from the iron ore majors, Chinese steel mills have adapted to cope, in ways that also help them stem losses caused by weak domestic steel demand. The 61% Fe Index incorporates material that not only has lower Fe grades than the 62% Fe benchmark but also higher impurities – partly a function of grade. Steel mills are becoming more accepting of ore with higher silica and alumina (4.3% and 2.5% for the 61% index vs 4% and 2.3% for the 62% index), adapting their blast furnaces to refined discounted product. "It depends on many factors, right? So, number one, the typical Chinese steelmaker is quite different now from the past, so now China is very skilled at blending ores and even with the weak steel margins they are willing to take on ores with higher impurities," Lim said. Those ores are blended with domestic magnetite concentrates or pellet feed to get specs right in the blast furnace. "The main driver is always profitability, they are looking for economical blends, so they are willing to take ores which are priced lower but have higher contaminant levels," Lim said. "Coal is also cheap so it's easy for them to buy the cheap fuel to just burn through the lower grade iron ores. " This produces a higher amount of slag, but they're OK with this. They will just remove the slag, and there's no need for increased productivity." What does this mean for high grade? Does this mean margin squeeze will squeeze high grade iron ore just as majors complete investments into new sources – Fortescue at its Iron Bridge magnetite project in the Pilbara and Rio/China at the Simandou project in Guinea, West Africa. Maybe not. As Lim stated, China's steelmakers have become adept at blending ores. "The increase in contaminant levels as well as low Fe will have implications for other ores around the world – it will support high grade iron ore prices, it's just at this moment China may not be seeking as much high grade iron ore," he said. " So this change is actually good for high grade producers around the world." Industry participants have made similar comments, with the volume of iron ore suitable for use in lower emissions steelmaking technologies like direct reduced iron restricted by deposit grades and purity specifications. That means most high grade iron ores will have value in blending with low grade ores to reduce emissions in blast furnaces. "The best way to (reduce emissions), if you wanted to have an immediate impact, would be basically just to put cleaner ores in your blast furnaces," Cyclone Metals (ASX:CLE) CEO Paul Berend, whose firm is working with Brazil's Vale to develop the Iron Bear magnetite project in Canada, said. "If you've got cleaner ores, you use less energy, less energy means less pollution, less CO2." With the quality of hematite DSO ores degrading, Berend said WA miners had been slower than international producers like Vale to develop resources with potential to supply higher grade from magnetites.
