After 32 years, Rio Tinto to fund study of environmental damage caused by Panguna mine
- Date: 21-Jul-2021
- Source: The Guardian
- Sector:Financial Markets
- Country:Middle East
After 32 years, Rio Tinto to fund study of environmental damage caused by Panguna mine
Thirty-two years since it fled Bougainville island, Rio Tinto has promised to fund an independent assessment of the ongoing environmental damage caused by its Panguna mine, a move landowners have welcomed as “a start” towards repairing decades of contamination.
The mining giant has committed to a multi-million dollar “environmental and human rights impact assessment” of its former copper and gold mine in Panguna, which was the flashpoint for Bougainville’s decade-long civil war.
The commitment has come in response to a formal complaint filed last September by 156 residents of local communities downstream of the mine, who allege that more than one billion tonnes of mine waste dumped into the Kawerong-Jaba river delta continues to wreak catastrophic environmental damage and is putting their lives and livelihoods at risk.