The Human Rights Law Centre has been working in close partnership with indigenous communities in Bougainville since 2019 to compel Rio Tinto to address this disastrous legacy so people can live safely on their own land. 

Together with 170 indigenous Bougainville residents, we filed a complaint against Rio Tinto through the Australian OECD National Contact Point for Responsible Business Conduct (AusNCP). The complaint alleges serious impacts to communities’ safety, health and livelihoods are being caused by almost a billion tonnes of mine waste that has been left by the mine. 

In response to the complaint, and sustained advocacy, in 2021, Rio Tinto agreed to fund an independent impact assessment. 

The two-year major independent investigation, the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment was released in late 2024 and confirmed what communities have said for decades: they are living with an environmental and human rights disaster. Major impacts include: 

• pollution from copper and other heavy metals which continues to contaminate communities’ rivers and impacts their access to clean water for drinking and sanitation;  

• flooding caused by mine waste clogging local rivers, which is inundating peoples’ lands and food gardens and causing large areas of quicksand;  

• collapsing levees and landslides from the vast mine tailings mounds which are at risk of imminent collapse threatening the lives of people in nearby villages; and 

• stockpiles and tanks of potentially dangerous chemicals left from the time of the mine’s operation, which are now in a deteriorating condition.  

Rio Tinto has now publicly accepted the report’s findings and stated that the company is committed to working with all stakeholders to find solutions. While this is a significant achievement after many years of community advocacy and our legal action, the company has yet to commit to funding the long-term solutions and clean up that communities have been calling for. 

Our team continues to support communities calling on Rio Tinto to fund the solutions desperately needed. This includes Rio Tinto contributing to a substantial, independently managed fund to help address the harms caused by the mine, assisting with long term rehabilitation efforts, as well as participating in reconciliation as per Bougainvillean custom. 

Media coverage 

• AFR, 6 December 2024: Rio’s abandoned copper mine ‘life-threatening’ to Bougainville locals
• ABC, 13 October 2024: Landmark report uncovers human rights abuses at Rio Tinto gold mine in Bougainville, 35 years after closure
• Tony Boyd, AFR, 1 September 2024: Rio Tinto: Class action skewers its Bougainville redemption   
• Reuters, 23 July 2024: Rio Tinto Class Action over Bougainville mine damage set October hearing   
• Al Jazeera, 27 June 2024: Political deadlock frustrates Bougainville’s aspirations of independence 
• Watch the ABC News story from June 2023 on the deadly impacts of the Panguna mine here  
• Myriam Robin, AFR, 23 April 2023: Rio Tinto facing suit from Panguna landowners 
• New York Times, December 2022: ‘Important Step’ Toward Addressing Toxic Legacy of Huge Mine