Rio Tinto CEO Jean-Sébastien Jacques attended an annual general meeting in Perth, Australia on May 9, 2019. Jacques will lose about $ 3.5 million in bonuses due to the destruction in May of Australian inland holy sites, the mining company said on August 24, 2020.
Will Russell / Associated Press
Rio Tinto on May 24 did what mining companies do – land exploded to make it easier to access minerals. However, Rio Tinto destroyed two 46,000-year-old caves in Western Australia, despite being warned that the area was “one of the most archaeologically important sites in Australia”, and had asked its own heritage team for a delay.
A report released Monday by the company said it had legal authority, but indicated it was wrong to do so. The company apologized to local Puutu Kunti Kurrama people and Pinikura people, poor funds to recruit more domestic executives, and slashed bonuses, including that of Chief Executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques, who lost £ 2.7 million ($ 3.5 million).
The report said that Rio Tinto RIO,
RIO,
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produced three options to reach the iron ore without blowing up the caves – and these options have never been shared with the PKKP. Jacques had previously testified that one of the three other options would cost the company $ 135 million because it did not have access to 8 million metric tons of iron ore.
The view: The Australian Government may tighten laws to protect Aboriginal cultural sites. More broadly, the episode typifies the way extraction companies should adopt to a more politically involved audience. BP BP,
intends to reduce oil and gas exploration by 40%, and BHP Group BHP,
bow to stock pressure by saying it will shut down its thermal coal activities.
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