Mining giant Rio Tinto is focusing on extracting key metals at the heart of the global energy transition and strengthening its ‘social licence’ after the destruction of the Juukan Gorge caves, its outgoing chairman has told shareholders.
Simon Thompson’s term as Rio Tinto chairman is almost over.Credit:Trevor Collens
Chairman Simon Thompson told shareholders at the UK annual general meeting in London on Friday that, after a year of unprecedented management change under new chief executive Jakob Stausholm, the miner wants to focus on “rebuilding relationships and strengthening our social licence” while pursuing a new strategy “with the energy transition at its heart.”
Rio’s operations, apart from the WA iron ore money machine, are increasingly orientated around opportunities from the desperate race to cut global carbon emissions and minimise damage from climate change.
This requires the electrification of the global energy system and Rio is focusing on three of the key elements: lithium and nickel for batteries and copper for electrical wiring.
Unfortunately for Rio Tinto, contributing to the global good of cleaner energy will not necessarily result in local acceptance of mines.
However, Thompson won’t have to balance strategy and community for much longer as his resignation - announced in March 2021 due to Rio Tinto’s WA iron ore operation destroying two rock shelters at Juukan Gorge with evidence of 46,000 years of human occupation - is effective after the Australian AGM in Melbourne on May 5.
“I do not understand how you can announce to the world that you’ll never again destroy a sacred place while at the same time move forward with a project that would do exactly that.”
Roger Featherstone, director of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition
“As chairman, I am ultimately accountable for the failings that led to this tragic event,” he said at the time.
The questions Thompson fielded on Friday made clear that while his successor Dominic Barton inherits a revamped post-Juukan management team, the potential for continued conflict between its mining ambitions and Indigenous people remain.
Shareholders peppered Thompson with queries about the impact of Rio’s energy transition quest on communities.
One wanted to know how land obtained for the Jadar lithium mine - that had its permits annulled by the Serbian government in January - would be returned to the original owners. Rio said it was still reviewing its options.
“We desperately need lithium in order to make the transition from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles,” the chairman added.
Roger Featherstone, director of the Arizona Mining Reform Coalition, said the Resolution Copper mine Rio is developing with BHP would be another Juukan Gorge due to its effect on Oak Flat, an area sacred to numerous south-west Native American tribes.
“Your Resolution Copper Mine plan calls for turning Oak Flat into a crater 1000 feet deep and two miles in diameter,” Featherstone said.
“I do not understand how you can announce to the world that you’ll never again destroy a sacred place while at the same time move forward with a project that would do exactly that.”
Resolution Copper’s estimate of the area to be affected by subsidence is about half of Featherstone’s, according to its website, but still covers 40 per cent of Oak Flat.
Thompson pointed out the mine had the potential to deliver 25 per cent of US copper demand.
Even early-stage exploration for copper and nickel in Finland drew criticism due to its proximity to freshwater lakes with endangered species.
For the concerns from Serbia, the United States and Finland, Thompson also promised more community consultation.
The problem for incoming chairman Dominic Barton, who said he wants to strengthen relationships with traditional owners, is what happens when the consultation stops and the answer is still no?
To go ahead with mining risks comparison with the destruction of Juukan Gorge that complied with WA Aboriginal protection laws. To honour local wishes leaves the metals the world needs, and Rio Tinto shareholders want, in the ground.
“There is no doubt we have some work ahead, navigating complex geopolitics, a shifting, competitive landscape, and lots of other societal challenges,” the former Canadian ambassador to China said.
Friday’s AGM was the first for ex-WA treasurer and Aboriginal affairs Minister Ben Wyatt who joined the board in June 2021, three months after leaving government.
Wyatt, who is also a director of gas producer Woodside, said he was excited that Rio Tinto had decided it would be driven by the decarbonisation of the planet.
“Perhaps the great challenge we’ll have in my lifetime,” Wyatt said.
No results of shareholder votes, which included election or reelection of the entire board and an advisory vote on the miner’s climate action plan, were released. Total votes from both meetings will be revealed at the Australian AGM.
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