Rio Tinto, PKKP Indigenous group to co-manage mining land in Western Australia

Rio Tinto Group and the Indigenous Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura, or PKKP, people signed a nonbinding agreement to guide cultural heritage management after the company destroyed sacred rock shelters in Western Australia's Juukan Gorge in 2020 to expand its Brockman 4 iron ore mine, AAP reported May 20.

Under the agreement, the PKKP Aboriginal Corp. will guide Rio Tinto's management of mining on the lands of the PKKP people. It also outlined principles of co-management to guarantee the protection and preservation of heritage sites in PKKP country, including greater involvement by the PKKP traditional owners in mining activities and clear delineation of mining areas.

"This agreement provides clear acknowledgment that Rio Tinto accepts that the destruction of the rock shelters should not have happened and makes clear that it is absolutely committed to listening, learning, changing and co-managing country," PKKP Chairman Burchell Hayes said.

Rio Tinto Iron Ore CEO Simon Trott said the agreement was a key factor in rebuilding the company's relationship with the PKKP people.

Rio Tinto blasted a 46,000-year-old heritage site in Juukan Gorge in PKKP country in May 2020 to recover $135 million worth of iron ore, leaving its traditional owners devastated.

The controversy led to the passage of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Bill 2021, which replaced the Aboriginal Heritage Act 1972 and gives Aboriginal people stronger influence on managing their cultural heritage.

S&P Global Commodity Insights produces content for distribution on S&P Capital IQ Pro.