Rio Tinto faces class action over Bougainville mine impact

Lawyers representing more than 3,000 residents of Bougainville filed the class-action lawsuit against Rio Tinto and Bougainville Copper seeking compensation. (Image: WSJ)

The Wall Street Journal

Fri, 24 May 2024

By Rhiannon Hoyle A class action against Rio Tinto has been filed in a Papua New Guinea court in relation to a long-shuttered copper mine that it offloaded in 2016 and was at the centre of a decadelong civil war.Mining at the Panguna copper pit on the South Pacific island of Bougainville ended in 1989 when militants forced the operation to shut down. Nearly three decades later, Rio Tinto handed over its almost 54% holding in operator Bougainville Copper to be distributed between Papua New Guinea and Bougainville.Lawyers representing more t...

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