"Landmark report uncovers human rights abuses at Rio Tinto gold mine in Bougainville, 35 years after closure", 13 October 2024

A large-scale study of social and environmental impacts from Rio Tinto's abandoned Panguna mine in Bougainville has found a plethora of actual and potential human rights violations, including risks to life.

It is the first comprehensive assessment of issues stemming from the massive gold and copper mine at the centre of a devastating civil war that claimed up to 15,000 lives between 1988 and 1998.

Despite being closed for more than three decades, masses of mine waste and decaying infrastructure continue to impact thousands of people in the area, the study found.

At some sites, it revealed violations of indigenous people's rights to water, education and culture.

Potential impacts to their rights to life, and possible impacts to rights to health, adequate food, housing and standard of living were also discovered.

The Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment (PMLIA) was initiated in the wake of a human rights complaint brought by The Human Rights Law Centre on behalf of about 170 Bougainvilleans against mining giant Rio Tinto in 2020.

High-level results from the assessment were presented to members of the community this week, ahead of a public release in November...

Rio Tinto did not respond directly to questions posed by the ABC.

In a statement on its website, the company says it is awaiting the final report and is committed to engaging with all parties on the next steps.