[concern] Rio Tinto: "strengthening Iron Ore Mining Management in Western Australia" will not affect projects under construction

SMM12, March 16: in May this year, local media reported that the Juukan Canyon Cave in Pilbara, Western Australia, had been bombed with explosives by Rio Tinto, one of the world's largest mining companies, while the company was expanding an iron ore project that had reached an agreement with the local government. It is known that the cave is a 46, 000-year-old aboriginal cave site. The move triggered a joint parliamentary investigation. The investigation report said that although Rio Tinto knew that the cave had a high historical value, it still blew it up.

The Australian Parliamentary Committee recommended that the Government of the State of Western Australia stop issuing new iron ore mining approvals because of its impact on Australian Aboriginal heritage sites. The Committee also recommended that mining companies with existing Article 18 permits not to continue mining, but to re-evaluate these approvals in accordance with the new legislation after the adoption of the new legislation, except with the consent of local indigenous peoples.

Yesterday, Luo Tiejun, vice president of the China Iron and Steel Association, held a video conference with Fang Ruisi (Simon Farry), vice president of (Rio Tinto) iron ore marketing, and Chen Sheng, general manager of iron ore China, to exchange views on the recent rapid rise in the iron ore market, the improvement of the pricing mechanism and the production and sales of Rio Tinto.

With regard to the market concern about the news that "the Australian Parliamentary Committee recommends that Western Australia strengthen the management of iron ore mining in order to protect the heritage sites of indigenous peoples", Rio Tinto stressed that the proposal will not have an impact on current projects under construction, such as approval of the proposal or increase the approval process for future new projects, but it is not the "suspension of all iron ore mining projects" as interpreted by some media. According to Rio Tinto, the Kudai Dudley project (Gudai-Darri) and the Luobu River project (Robe River), which are under construction, are proceeding as planned and are expected to start production in early 2022 and the second half of 2021.