In the wake of Rio Tinto’s announcement that it would divest itself of interests in Bougainville, much remains at stake, including responsibility for costly mine rehabilitation.
 
Rio Tinto is the controlling shareholder in the troubled company, Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) which operated the Panguna copper and gold mine between 1972-1989, and which currently holds an exploration license in the Panguna region. Disputes over the mine and the company’s conduct in the late 1980s led directly to the bloody Bougainvillean civil war…

“Nevertheless, Jubilee Australia is deeply concerned by the way that Rio Tinto has pulled out of Bougainville.
 
“Rio has walked away from the mess that it helped cause, both environmentally and in terms of human lives. By doing so, they have further reduced the chance that there will be any clean-up of the significant environmental damage caused by the Panguna mine.
 
‘They have also walked away without acknowledging their role in inciting the conflict and providing logistic support to government security forces. This is not the behavior of an ethical or socially responsible company…