Mining firm Rio Tinto sorry for destroying Aboriginal caves bbc.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from bbc.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Last modified on Tue 18 May 2021 03.05 EDT
The traditional owners of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters have demanded they be given a seat at the table in future planning of Rio Tinto’s $1.5bn iron ore mine in an effort to prevent the further destruction of cultural heritage.
The 46,000-year-old heritage-listed rock shelter was blown up by Rio Tinto one year ago against the stated wishes of the traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people.
“We want to ensure that we’re around the table when it comes to making decisions about impact on our country,” PKKP Aboriginal Corporation spokesman Burchell Hayes said. “We’re not going to let this happen again.”
How Rio blew its reputation to smithereens in the Juukan Gorge scandal thisismoney.co.uk - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thisismoney.co.uk Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The chairman of mining giant Rio Tinto plans to quit, accepting personal failings relating to the widely condemned destruction of an ancient sacred Indigenous site in Western Australia s Pilbara region in 2020.
Briton Simon Thompson said he planned to step down from Rio s board and not seek re-election in 2022 in a company statement because, I am ultimately accountable for the failings that led to this tragic event.
The blasting of the cave at Jukkan Gorge, as part of the expansion of the Brockman 4 iron ore mine, was understood to be legal but against the wishes of traditional owners, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) people.