Rio Tinto Criticised for Profiting from Unethical Practices at Grasburg Mine
Mining is currently the major political issue in Australia, with BHP and Rio Tinto locked in a war with the Government over its proposed mining tax. But amid the debate, one issue that isn’t getting coverage is the profits Rio Tinto is receiving from the Grasburg Mine in West Papua. Rio currently receives 40 percent of the production revenue from what is the largest gold mine and the third largest copper mine in the world. Yet their partner company, US mining giant Freeport, which manages the mine is being heavily criticised for the significant environmental damage that the mine is causing. There have also been allegations of wide spread human rights abuses – which have caused some to characterise the activities in the area as ‘slow motion genocide’.