First results from an independent human rights and environmental impact assessment of the Panguna mine
Corporations must be held accountable when their actions impact people and the planet. That’s why the Human Rights Law Centre has been supporting people in Bougainville to seek remedies for devastation left behind by Rio Tinto’s Panguna mine.
In 2021, in response to a human rights complaint brought by 170 local community members, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre, Rio Tinto agreed to fund an independent human rights and environmental impact assessment of the Panguna mine.
Communities in Bougainville have just received the draft results from the investigation, which focused on the most serious areas of concern. They confirms what communities have been saying for decades. Thousands of people are living with major ongoing risks including:
- Life-threatening risks posed by collapsing infrastructure and levees.
- Mine-related flooding contaminating food sources, and affecting access to drinking water and essential services.
- Toxic chemicals found in the soil of certain areas.
For 45 years, the Panguna copper and gold mine was majority-owned by Rio Tinto. In 2016, Rio divested from the mine, leaving behind more than a billion tonnes of mine waste.
No clean-up has ever taken place.
Rio Tinto has still not made any commitment to funding solutions beyond the impact assessment.
“It is now time for Rio Tinto to come out public and make its commitment known to the people so that it can restore its trust as a company, as an institution,” says Theonila Roka Matbob, lead complainant and member of parliament for the area where the mine is located.
We are working with communities to push Rio Tinto to commit to funding long-term solutions so people can live safely on their land again.
“I want our communities to live safely on our land again. Every day we worry that the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe is not safe” -Theonila Roka Matbob, lead complainant and member of parliament for the area where the mine is located.
The full final report from this phase of work will be shared publicly before the end of the year.
We will continue to stand with the people in Bougainville who are fighting to live safely on their land again.
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Acknowledgement of Country
The Human Rights Law Centre acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands across Australia, including the lands of the Wurundjeri, Boon Wurrung, Gadigal, Ngunnawal, Cammeraygal, Darug, Wadawurrung, Turrbal and Jagera people where we work from.
We pay our respect to Elders past and present. This land always was, and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
WARNING: This site contains images or names of people who have passed away.