Mining giant vows to protect 43,000-year-old Australian shelter

Rio Tinto has pledged to protect a 43,000-year old rock shelter on the fringe of its Silvergrass iron ore mine in Western Australia as it reviews heritage sites after outrage over the destruction of sacred ancient caves this year.

Rio Tinto, which has state government approval to damage the site, told the Wintawari Guruma people, its traditional owners, of its intention to preserve the rock shelter last week, though the Wintawari say they have yet to receive confirmation in writing.

“We will protect the site and also have mining buffer zones in place to further ensure the site is not at risk,” the world’s largest iron ore miner said in an e-mail in response to questions about the site.

The state government-approved detonation in May of caves in the same region that showed evidence of human history stretching back 46,000 years provoked worldwide condemnation and has triggered government and internal reviews.

Since then, Australia’s biggest iron ore miners — Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue Metals Group — have been reviewing heritage sites that could be affected by mine expansions, though they have resisted calls for a complete moratorium on sites for which they have been granted exemptions to disturb or damage.

The 43,000-year old rock shelter was highlighted in a March 2018 report by Scarp Archaeology as having “high archaeological significance”, which also noted the Silvergrass East area was “likely to feature more locations of extensive antiquity”.

Despite the findings of the report, Rio Tinto applied the following April to damage the site and consent was granted by the state government’s minister for aboriginal affairs in an August 15 2019-dated document.

“Nobody at Wintawari is ever happy to see any sites destroyed — hopefully Rio is also coming around to that point of view,” heritage manager for the Wintawari Guruma Aboriginal Corporation, Kathryn Przywolnik, said.

Since July 2010, miners have submitted more than 460 applications to disturb or destroy sites of potential cultural significance in the region, according to Western Australia state parliament records.

All but one were approved. — Reuters