Rio Tinto is yet to meet its internal cultural heritage management standards following the destruction of ancient rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in 2020, a report finds.
Rio Tinto is yet to meet its internal cultural heritage management standards following the destruction of ancient rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in 2020, a report finds.
The mining giant published an independent audit from sustainability consultant Environmental Resources Management (ERM) which identified compliance and performance areas requiring attention to meet its self-set standards.
ERM's audit also found areas where Rio was leading cultural heritage practices.
It forms part of Rio’s bid to improve cultural heritage management and protection following the blasting of 46,000-year-old rock shelters in the Pilbara three years ago.
The report identified that cultural heritage management plans needed to be co-designed, embedded, understood and managed through a global heritage management maturity framework.
Another area requiring continued focus was embedding, understanding and having respect for heritage across Rio’s workforce to ensure lasting outcomes for Indigenous peoples and communities.
The report said the changes introduced over the past two years had resulted in improvements in on-ground management, but they varied by asset and often reflected the extent of investment made into building relationships with Traditional Owners.
“Despite the changes, there continue to be gaps between current management strategies and global good practice,” the report said.
“Of particular note is water management, specifically where there is potential to impact cultural heritage, which is a critical risk for the business and requires ongoing focus.
“The extent to which the improvements have been embedded, including new systems and processes, is unclear but will be important to support sustained good practice.”
In November 2022, Rio signed a remedy agreement with the PKKP Aboriginal Corporation to create the Juukan George Legacy Foundation.
Earlier that year, the company signed a co-management heads of agreement to work in partnership on a co-management approach to mining activities on Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura People's County.
Rio Tinto Australia chief executive Kellie Parker said they were working to strengthen and improve their approach to cultural heritage and community relations.
“Our immediate focus was in Australia following Juukan Gorge before steadily expanding across our global operations,” she said.
“The report highlights some good progress, in particular in Australia, where we started.
“We know we have more work to do and the report gives us areas for further improvement across our global operations, and we will adopt all of its recommendations.”
The report analysed 37 of Rio's assets, of which 20 were in Australia.
ERM consulting director Stefani Eagle said several areas of improvement were identified across Rio’s assets.
"While examples of good cultural heritage practice were found, there are further improvements that are required to meet their internal standards and ensure all assets have appropriate foundations, underpinned by the principles of co-design,” she said.
On the ASX, Rio Tinto shares were down 0.71 per cent to $113.99 at market close.
