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Independent assessment of former Bougainville mine due to open


Panguna Mine
Published date: 6-Dec-2022

An independent environmental and human rights legacy impact assessment of Rio Tinto's former Panguna mine in the autonomous Papua New Guinea region Bougainville is due to begin this week.

Last year, Rio Tinto publicly committed to fund the independent assessment in response to a human rights complaint brought by 156 local community members, represented by Australia's Human Rights Law Centre.

The mine was forced to stop operating in 1989 by what became a ten-year long civil war.

The Bougainville government is very keen to see a resumption of mining there as it strives to develop its economy in its quest to achieve independence by 2027.

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