Update on the Panguna Mine

The first meeting of the Roundtable to address findings from the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment (PMLIA) Report was held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on 6 March 2025. This joint undertaking follows the November 2024 signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG), Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) and Rio Tinto, which formally established the Roundtable framework.

Building on this foundation, the Roundtable aims to develop a process for collectively remedying actual and potential impacts identified in the PMLIA Report published in December 2024, including the design of a potential remedy mechanism aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The meeting is an important first step towards finding ways to address the legacy issues of the Panguna Mine. The Roundtable is committed to developing solutions in partnership with other relevant stakeholders that are both practical and meaningful for the communities who have lived with these impacts.

Throughout the meeting, the parties deliberated and reached consensus on the scope of additional investigations needed to address the most critical impacts identified in the PMLIA. This will be submitted for consultation with and formal endorsement by the PMLIA Oversight Committee, which includes diverse stakeholders representing local communities, the Government of Papua New Guinea, the Autonomous Bougainville Government, Bougainville Copper Limited, Rio Tinto, and the Human Rights Law Centre.

In addition, the parties are addressing ageing infrastructure and other priority issues highlighted by the PMLIA. The ABG has launched an education awareness program to inform local communities and small-scale miners about potential geo-technical risks.

Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment Report – Memorandum of Understanding

Rio Tinto has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) and the Autonomous Bougainville Government to form a Roundtable to address the findings of the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment (PMLIA) Report. The PMLIA Report is expected to be published in late November 2024.

Under the MoU, the Roundtable parties will work together, consult with impacted communities, and establish a process to agree on how to remedy actual and potential impacts identified in the PMLIA Report. It is intended this will include establishing an effective remedy mechanism aligned with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

In parallel, the Roundtable parties will continue with the work on ageing infrastructure and other priorities already identified by the PMLIA.

Read the media release for full details.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Australia, Kellie Parker said: “Our focus in Bougainville is on meaningful engagement and long-term solutions. Since 2021, we've committed to the independent Legacy Impact Assessment process with local stakeholders, which for the first time in decades will provide objective data on environmental and associated human rights impacts from the Panguna mine since it ceased operations due to civil war.

“We will work with the Roundtable parties and consult with local communities on a response plan to address identified impacts. Rio Tinto’s support for this MoU reinforces our genuine commitment to working respectfully and collaboratively on this important issue."

Rio Tinto has acknowledged a class action lawsuit filed in July 2024 by Martin Ronald Miriori in Papua New Guinea's National Court of Justice, naming both Rio Tinto and its former subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) as defendants. The case, financed by a Caribbean-based third-party litigation funder, concerns the former Panguna Mine operated by BCL.

On 20 September 2024, Rio Tinto submitted its defence against the legal claim. The company will strongly defend its position in this case.

Rio Tinto’s focus remains on constructive engagement and meaningful action with local stakeholders through the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment. Rio Tinto recognises the importance of understanding and addressing the environmental, and directly connected social and human rights impacts that have occurred since mining operations ceased abruptly in 1989 due to civil war.

Rio Tinto's ongoing commitments

• Independent Legacy Impact Assessment: Since 2022, Rio Tinto has been actively participating in an independent assessment of the Panguna Mine's legacy impacts. This comprehensive evaluation was undertaken by an independent engineering consultant and is overseen by a diverse committee including representatives from local communities, BCL, the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG), the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, and the Human Rights Law Centre. Rio Tinto welcomed the release of the PMLIA report in December 2024 as a critical step forward in building understanding of the long-term legacy impacts of the former mine in Bougainville.
• Infrastructure Safety: In August 2024, Rio Tinto, ABG and BCL signed a Memorandum of Understanding to address concerns around future risks of ageing infrastructure as identified by the independent engineering consultant. The primary objectives are to mitigate potential hazards and enhance community safety.
• Water and Sanitation: In conjunction with the Legacy Impact Assessment and efforts to address ageing infrastructure, Rio Tinto is supporting a water and sanitation project in Central Bougainville, in cooperation with the ABG.
• Remedy: In November 2024, Rio Tinto, BCL and ABG signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to discuss ways forward. The MoU parties plan to address the PMLIA findings and develop a remedy mechanism consistent with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). 

Following a competitive tender process, the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment Oversight Committee has selected Tetra Tech Coffey to complete Phase 1 of the independent Legacy Impact Assessment which will cover environmental, impacts and directly connected social and human rights impacts, caused by the Panguna mine since the cessation of mining.

Tetra Tech Coffey is a global consulting firm with experience working in Papua New Guinea. Their team includes international and local experts in environmental, health, cultural and social (including human rights) matters, including Bougainvillean experts.

Phase 1 will study acute impacts and risks that may have been caused by the mine, particularly priority areas for communities’ health and safety. These include assessing the stability of aging mine infrastructure and any impacts related to water quality and flooding.

Tetra Tech Coffey made a first visit to the Panguna Mine site in December 2022 to begin the Legacy Impact Assessment which will continue through 2023 with anticipated findings from Phase 1 to be presented to the Oversight Committee in 2024.

The Legacy Impact Assessment will provide all parties with a clearer understanding of the environmental impacts and directly connected social and human rights impacts of the Panguna Mine since the cessation of mining, so that together we can consider the best way forward.

We are committed to acting in line with our external environmental and human rights commitments and internal policies and standards.

Read more about the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment Committee

The Panguna Mine Preparatory Phase report was a desktop review commissioned by Rio Tinto and the Human Rights Law Centre on behalf of the Panguna Mine Impact Assessment Committee (Committee) to inform priority areas for the upcoming environmental, social and human rights Impact Assessment. The report identified risks of potential failure of the levee at the former Main/Pump station, and potential flooding events along the Kawerong and Jaba river that have been prioritised for further investigation.

Community representatives in Bougainville have been advised of these preliminary findings and the work being undertaken to better understand the risks and mitigations. The Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) has contracted Tetra Tech Coffey, who completed the Preparatory Phase report, to complete an on-the-ground assessment. Rio Tinto is supporting the ABG in gathering further data and is funding the assessment.

The Committee has met regularly since its formation in November 2021. The tender process to select a third party to conduct the Impact Assessment is underway and The Committee is expected to select a vendor in September. The Impact Assessment is due to commence on the ground this year and will provide all parties with a clearer understanding of the environmental impacts and directly connected social and human rights impacts since the cessation of mining, so that together we can consider the best pathway forward.

Read the preparatory phase report on the committee’s website for full details

On 21 July 2021, Rio Tinto and Bougainville community members, represented by the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), announced they had reached an agreement to identify and assess legacy impacts of the former Panguna copper mine in Bougainville. This follows several months of constructive discussions facilitated by the Australian National Contact Point (AusNCP).

A joint committee of stakeholders has been formed to oversee a detailed independent assessment of the Panguna mine to identify and better understand actual and potential environmental and human rights impacts of the mine which ceased operating in 1989.

This joint committee, the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment Committee (Committee), has been established by the Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG) and the parties to the AusNCP process (Rio Tinto, the HRLC and the community members the HRLC represents). It is chaired by an independent facilitator with representatives from the Independent State of Papua New Guinea (PNG), ASX-listed Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL), as well as landowner and community representatives. The Committee held its first meeting on 30 November 2021.

This is an important first step towards engaging with those impacted by the legacy of the Panguna mine.

Read the media release for full details

Read our joint statement with HRLC on the AusNCP website

In September 2020, the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), representing 156 residents of villages in the vicinity of the Panguna mine, filed a complaint with the AusNCP against Rio Tinto. The complaint alleges that Rio Tinto is accountable for significant breaches of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines) relating to past and ongoing environmental and human rights impacts allegedly arising from the Panguna mine. The complaint also alleges that, notwithstanding its divestment, Rio Tinto is accountable for remediating these ongoing impacts as it has an ongoing obligation to provide for or cooperate in remediation where it identifies it has caused or contributed to harm. The complainants are seeking commitments from Rio Tinto to:

• Engage with Panguna mine-affected communities to help find solutions and undertake formal reconciliation as per Bougainvillean custom;
• Fund an independent environmental and human rights impact assessment of the mine by a team of qualified local and international experts to map impacts and to develop recommendations (Impact Assessment); and
• Contribute to a substantial, independently managed fund, to help address the harms allegedly caused by the mine and assist long-term rehabilitation efforts.

The AusNCP accepted the complaint and Rio Tinto, HRLC and community representatives have been engaging productively through the ‘good offices’ of the AusNCP since November 2020.

Read an update on the AusNCP process issued in March 2023