Rio Tinto to form indigenous advisory group after sacred site destruction

[MELBOURNE] Miner Rio Tinto Ltd said on Tuesday it will form an indigenous advisory group to identify gaps in current protocols for managing indigenous culture in Australia, nearly a year after destruction of an important heritage site for a mine.

The company said on Tuesday it would start work with the indigenous advisory group as soon as it was established to review what the best practice was for management of cultural heritage sites in the mining industry.

The review will help identify gaps in the company's current protocols and provide a clear pathway to re-establish trust over time, it said.

Rio chief executive Jakob Stausholm told an investor call the company was committed to regaining trust and that Rio would make additional disclosures on its progress around heritage management.

"Rio is at the start of a very long process of rebuilding trust," said Chief Executive Debby Blakey of Australian superannuation fund HESTA.

"It will require long-term commitment to deep-seated cultural change and strong frameworks and processes in place to support genuine, open and ongoing partnership with Indigenous communities." Last year's destruction of the 46,000-year-old Juukan Gorge rock shelters in Western Australia for an iron ore mine sparked a massive public and investor uproar, leading to the exit of top executives and a pledge by the company to overhaul its approach.

Planned disclosures included measuring progress against the company's commitments, identifying how traditional owners' views were shaping Rio's commitments, and their views of how Rio was meeting them, as well as increasing governance oversight.

Rio has also agreed to advocate for industry-wide improvements, said the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ASCI), which was among a coalition of more than 20 investor groups pushing for action.

"Investors will continue to engage with Rio Tinto, and other companies with cultural heritage exposures, to understand how they are managing these risks and measuring against commitments," ACSI Chief Executive Louise Davidson said.

The miner said it would begin with interim reporting of these disclosures in the third quarter of 2021 and thereafter with annual reporting, along with periodic disclosure as appropriate.

REUTERS