Historic deal following sacred site 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.' Rio Tinto executive Simon Trott and Pinikura traditional owner Terry Drage. Supplied Credit: Supplied
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. The Juukan Gorge is one of the oldest known sites of Indigenous occupation. PKKP Corporation Credit: Supplied
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. Simon Thompson resigned as Rio Tinto chairman after the incident. NewsWire / Sharon Smith Credit: Supplied
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.
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Both companies are heading into capital-intensive, construction-heavy periods with a focus on projects aimed at boosting their supplies of commodities that stand to benefit from growing global efforts to tackle global warming, such as electric battery raw material lithium, and copper, a key ingredient in electric wiring. BHP is focusing on several new and expanded copper mines, while Rio Tinto is concentrating on copper and lithium. 'Both businesses will need to pivot to a more technical, execution-driven capability within senior leadership ranks,' says Shaw. 'It will come down to the right balance of senior leaders being able to surround themselves with the technical skills and talent they need and can trust, versus potential new leadership with stronger technical experience.' Rio Tinto chair Dominic Barton surprised investors with his disclosure three weeks ago that chief executive Jakob Stausholm will leave later this year. The miner didn't name a successor, prompting speculation the transition was hasty and a result of friction between Stausholm and Barton. Stausholm has rejected talk of a rift. There is 'no disalignment', he told reporters at Western Range last week. 'We have completely agreed between ourselves that it is the right time to look for succession, and I will be stepping down. I am very happy and proud about my what will be five years as CEO of this company,' he said. Any incoming boss at Rio Tinto will need to 'double down to deliver greater operational performance', Barton said, intimating the company is focusing on candidates for the top job with deep mining experience. Change at the top of resource giant BHP has been smoother. Former National Australia Bank chief executive Ross McEwan seamlessly took over as company chair from eight-year veteran Ken MacKenzie in March, although there are now suggestions the Big Australian is looking to replace CEO Mike Henry but no official acknowledgement. For Shanghai-based Baowu, Rio Tinto's partner in Western Range, there is no equivocation on the Pilbara's future. The world's largest steel producer, wholly owned by the Chinese government, is firmly rooted in the region's red earth, owning 46 per cent of the joint venture since 2002. Its chairman, Hu Wangming, describes it almost poetically as a place 'where partnership and friendship flourish, like the ore veins of the Western Range: strong, deep and everlasting'.
