Juukan Gorge traditional owners sign landmark agreement with Rio Tinto

Australia Broadcast Center

02-06-2025

Just over five years after Rio Tinto destroyed sacred sites at Juukan Gorge in WA's Pilbara region, the area's traditional owners have signed a new deal with the mining giant.
The Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) Aboriginal Corporation and Rio Tinto announced the deal, which governs the company's iron ore operations on PKKP lands, on Monday morning.
In a statement, the corporation says the deal gives traditional owners a "much greater say" about what happens on their country.
It comes after years of tense relations between the PKKP people and Rio Tinto in the wake of the destruction of 47,000-year-old rock shelters.
The new agreement appears to be a turning point, including commitments for both parties to work together at all stages of mining, which PKKP Aboriginal Corporation CEO Grant Wilson has described as groundbreaking and innovative.
Pinikura traditional owner and corporation chair Terry Drage said it would also give Rio Tinto more certainty about where it could develop much earlier in the mine cycle.
"Ultimately, this is good for us as traditional owners, and it is good for business," Mr Drage said.
PKKP chief heritage officer Jordan Ralph has been outspoken about the flaws of the WA government's current heritage legislation, but said this new agreement went far beyond protections in the Aboriginal Heritage Act.
"In the past, mining companies would only start engaging meaningfully with traditional owners at the end of their study process, after they have spent lots of capital and have put all their eggs in one basket by making key decisions without traditional owner involvement," Dr Ralph said.
"What we've done here is remove that situation from the equation. We engage early, we give the mine planners the information they need, we remove important heritage from the mine plan, and we design the mine together."
He said part of the agreement included a heritage protocol, which had strategies to protect sites through buffers, blast management and fencing.
Rio Tinto said the the agreement reinforced its commitment to rehabilitate the Juukan Gorge area.
"The destruction of the Juukan Gorge rock shelters on May 24, 2020 brought immeasurable pain to the PKKP and profoundly changed our company," Rio Tinto iron ore chief executive Simon Trott said.
"Through the open and gracious sharing of knowledge and experiences, the PKKP have helped to shape a renewed approach to managing cultural heritage protection and mining activities."