Rio Tinto and Bougainville community residents reach agreement to assess legacy impacts of Panguna mine
21 Luglio 2021 - 12:26AM
Business Wire
Rio Tinto and Bougainville community members, represented by the
Human Rights Law Centre, have reached an agreement to identify and
assess legacy impacts of the former Panguna copper mine in
Bougainville. This follows several months of constructive
discussions facilitated by the Australian OECD National Contact
Point (AusNCP).
A joint committee of stakeholders will be formed to oversee a
detailed independent assessment of the Panguna mine to identify and
better understand actual and potential environmental and human
rights impacts of the mine which ceased operating in 1989.
The Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment Committee will be
established by the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and the
parties to the AusNCP process, Rio Tinto, the HRLC and the
community members the HRLC represents. It will be chaired by an
independent facilitator with representatives invited to join the
Committee from the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (PNG),
ASX-listed Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), as well as other
landowners and community representatives.
Rio Tinto chief executive Jakob Stausholm said, “This is an
important first step towards engaging with those impacted by the
legacy of the Panguna mine. It comes after months of constructive
engagement with the HRLC and the community members they represent
facilitated by the Australian National Contact Point, as well as
engagement with other key stakeholders including the Autonomous
Bougainville Government.
“Operations at Panguna ceased in 1989 and we’ve not had access
to the mine since that time. Stakeholders have raised concerns
about impacts to water, land and health and this process will
provide all parties with a clearer understanding of these important
matters, so that together we can consider the right way forward. We
take this seriously and are committed to identifying and assessing
any involvement we may have had in adverse impacts in line with our
external human rights and environmental commitments and internal
policies and standards.”
The scope of the Impact Assessment, along with terms of
reference for the Committee, have been drafted by the parties to
the AusNCP process. The Impact Assessment will be predominantly
funded by Rio Tinto with BCL contributing separately, provided that
broader stakeholders on the Committee endorse the process and
proposed methodology of the Impact Assessment, the Impact
Assessment can be safely completed and an appropriate funding
mechanism can be agreed. The ABG has confirmed its support for the
process.
The Committee will appoint a chairperson and an independent
third-party company (or consortium) to complete the Impact
Assessment with strong environmental and human rights expertise as
well as both global and regional experience.
Following the Impact Assessment, Rio Tinto and the other parties
to the AusNCP process will discuss the recommendations from the
Impact Assessment and the remaining commitments sought by the
communities.
The joint statement from the parties to the AusNCP process is
available at https://ausncp.gov.au/.
Background
The Panguna mine was operated by BCL, majority owned by Rio
Tinto, for 17 years from 1972 until 1989, when operations were
suspended due to an uprising against the mine and subsequent civil
war. A peace agreement was signed in 2001 and Bougainville was
given greater autonomy within PNG, with a non-binding referendum in
favour of independence held in 2019.
Rio Tinto transferred its 53.83 per cent majority shareholding
in BCL to the ABG and the PNG Government in 2016 for no
consideration, enabling ABG and PNG to hold an equal share in BCL
of 36.4 per cent each. BCL is an ASX listed company with the
remaining 27.2 per cent held by public and institutional investors.
Rio Tinto holds no shares in BCL.
In September 2020, the HRLC, representing 156 residents of
villages in the vicinity of the Panguna mine, filed a complaint
with the AusNCP against Rio Tinto. The complaint alleges that Rio
Tinto is accountable for significant breaches of the OECD
Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises relating to past and
ongoing environmental and human rights impacts allegedly arising
from the Panguna mine. The complaint also alleges that,
notwithstanding its divestment, Rio Tinto is accountable for
remediating these ongoing impacts as it has an ongoing obligation
to provide for or cooperate in remediation where it identifies it
has caused or contributed to harm. The complainants are seeking
commitments from Rio Tinto to:
- Engage with Panguna mine-affected communities to help find
solutions and undertake formal reconciliation as per Bougainvillean
custom;
- Fund an independent environmental and human rights impact
assessment of the mine by a team of qualified local and
international experts to map impacts and to develop recommendations
(Impact Assessment); and
- Contribute to a substantial, independently managed fund, to
help address the harms allegedly caused by the mine and assist
long-term rehabilitation efforts.
The AusNCP accepted the complaint and Rio Tinto, HRLC and
community representatives have been engaging productively through
the ‘good offices’ of the AusNCP since November 2020.
This announcement is authorised for release to the market by
Steve Allen, Rio Tinto’s Group Company Secretary.
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