Rio Tinto picked richer option in Brockman mine blast that destroyed ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters

Rio Tinto chief executive Jean-Sebastien Jacques has revealed no employee had been dismissed, suffered financial penalty or been counselled over the destruction of the ancient Juukan Gorge rock shelters in May. He also revealed the blast at the site reaped bigger rewards for Rio from higher-grade ore. The mining boss was giving evidence this morning to the Senate’s Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia after his company blasted two ancient indigenous rock shelters in the Pilbara as part of its mining activities at the Brockman 4 mine. The parliamentary committee is investigating how the heritage sites, which had evidence of human habitation dating back 46,000 years, could have been destroyed despite broad acknowledgement of their cultural importance and heritage value. Under intense questioning for committee members, Mr Jacques reiterated that the blasts should not have happened and again issued an unreserved apology to the local Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikurra people. He said the company’s focus to date had been on “putting it right” and making sure such destruction did not happen again. Mr Jacques said the events leading up to the incident were complex and had taken place over 17 years and no single employee was wholly responsible for what had happened. In an earlier submission to the committee, Rio noted that three other mining options had been considered at Brockman 4 that would have preserved the shelters but the option that involved destroying the shelters had been chosen to access higher volumes of high-grade ore. Mr Jacques revealed today the fourth option provided an additional 8 million tonnes of ore worth $135 million but admitted the PKKP had not been made aware that there were three other options that would have preserved the shelters. Both Mr Jacques and Rio’s iron ore boss Chris Salisbury told the committee they were unaware of the cultural significance of the Juukan Gorge shelters until explosives had been laid in the ground above them. The company had tried to remove some of the 66 tonnes of explosives across 382 blast holes when the concerns of the PKKP people were communicated at a senior level. But of the eight holes the company tried to defuse, only seven had been removed successfully and it had taken 10 hours, Mr Salisbury noted. He said the company considered it unsafe to try to continue to remove the explosives because they had already been in the ground for eight days already. Committee chairman Warren Entsch said it beggared belief that from 2013 to March 2020 there was no understanding within the executive of Rio that there was an issue with the site. “The other thing that bothers me immensely is that when we talk about the principal of pre, prior, and I highlight, informed consent, it was conveyed to the PKKP that there was only one option,” he said. He indicated the committee would call Rio before it again and he wanted to hear evidence from the company’s senior cultural engagement staff to determine the extent to which they were following principals in the best interests of Traditional Owners rather than the best interests of the company. Mr Jacques insisted Rio took cultural heritage matters seriously, revealing that it had removed 380mt of iron ore from its mine plans in the Pilbara over the past five years for reasons of environmental and cultural preservation, representing a year of production. “So I can reassure you Senator and your colleagues that we are taking it very, very seriously,” he said. But Mr Jacques conceded in relation to Juukan, the company had “simply dropped the ball”. In his opening address to the committee, Mr Jacques said the pain of the local PKKP people had become “very personal” to him after he spoke to their leaders after the blast. “These conversations will stay with me forever,” he said. “What has become clear to me is this: Rio Tinto and the industry must listen more to the voice of Traditional Owners. And I mean really listen.” Mr Jacques described the benefits of mining in terms of jobs and business opportunities and the preservation of cultural heritage as “a delicate balancing act”. “We need a clear and predictable framework to enable long-term investment. And we must find a way to win the hearts and minds of our communities where we operate. The events at Juukan provide a great learning opportunity for us all,” he said. In its submission, Rio conceded it could have made better decisions over 17 years in relation to Juukan and admitted it had missed several opportunities to save the shelters. “While we had a participation agreement with the PKKP, and engaged with them on the rock shelters over years, in hindsight, this was not enough,” Mr Jacques told the committee. “We need to find a way to give a greater voice to Traditional Owners in the decision-making process in relation to mining on their land. “I would like to re-state how committed we are to listen and change. Something good must come out of this. And I am sure it will.” Rio blasted the shelters with government approval under the controversial Section 18 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act, which it secured in 2013. Mr Jacques said the company was taking part in a rewriting of the Act by the State Government that seeks to tighten controls around cultural heritage and given indigenous a greater say in outcomes. Resources Minister Keith Pitt said internal action against Rio staff involved was not yet out of the picture. “Rio Tinto has publicly apologised and I note it informed the hearing that an internal investigation is still going and hasn’t yet ruled out taking any action,” he said. However, he said no laws had been broken in the destruction of the site. “The work was carried out under approvals and permits provided by the Western Australian Government and the Aboriginal Affairs Minister informed the hearing that no laws were broken,” he said. A spokesperson for Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt said it was up to Rio to manage its response. “Rio is responsible for managing its internal response to what has taken place,” he said. “The Minister’s focus is on ensuring such circumstances do not re-occur in the future. “Along with the Minister for the Environment, the Hon Sussan Ley MP, the Minister will bring together State and Territory environment and Indigenous ministers to discuss State and federal policies relating to the protection of indigenous heritage sites.” Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney said there were “clearly serious questions to be answered”.