Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) said Tuesday it found no damage to the structure of a rock shelter at an Aboriginal heritage site in Western Australia that may have been affected by blasting at its Nammuldi iron ore operations, which prompted Aboriginal elders to walk away from a heritage survey in protest.
Rio (RIO) employees and representatives from the Muntulgura Guruma people recently visited the site, where a blast two months ago reputedly damaged one square meter of rock from the overhang of a culturally important rock shelter estimated to have been inhabited 40K-50K years ago.
The company said it found no structural damage to the rock shelter or cultural materials, but the group representing the traditional owners said they reached a different conclusion, expressing concern with “effectiveness of Rio Tinto Iron Ore blast management procedures and feels that Rio took unnecessary risks in this instance.”
“We are extremely concerned to learn that 87 of our rock shelter sites are subject to blast management. What condition are they in? How many others have been impacted?” a Muntulgura Guruma representative told Reuters, adding that traditional owners have no input or oversight of the blasts.