South East Asia’s Phantom Menace: Rio Tinto & Freeport-Mcmoran

Did Rio Tinto Manufacture a Civil War in Papua New Guinea?

An official statement from Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister, Sir Michael Somare, as part of a class action suit against Australian mining giant Rio Tinto in 2001, was made public this week.

Somare accuses the Australian mining giant and its subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) of being instrumental players in the PNG military’s deadly war against Bougainville rebels who opposed Rio Tinto’s Panguna copper mining operation. The PNG PM’s statement reads, in part:

“Rio Tinto played an active role in military operations that ultimately led to a civil war in which 15,000
people died.”

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South East Asia’s Phantom Menace: Rio Tinto & Freeport-Mcmoran