, Columnist
Is a 46,000-Year-Old Site Less Sacred Than Profits?
Rio Tinto demolished a treasured archaeological ground to make way for a mine. That doesn’t sit well with its responsible image.
Not just another hole.
Photographer: Ian Waldie/Bloomberg
This article is for subscribers only.
It seemed like an incident from another era.
Rio Tinto Group last month demolished a 46,000-year-old site sacred to the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura peoples to make way for an expansion of its Brockman 4 mine in Australia’s iron-rich northwestern Pilbara region. The act has been likened to the destruction of Palmyra by the Islamic State.