Hearing date set for October in Rio Tinto class action lawsuit over Bougainville mine

The first court hearing date has been set in a class action lawsuit against Rio Tinto (ASX: RIO) for historical environmental and social damage caused by its giant copper mine on the island of Bougainville.

The first hearing will take place in Papua New Guinea’s capital Port Moresby on October 10, according to lawyers representing the claimants.

Thousands of people in Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea, filed a class action in May against Rio Tinto and its former unit Bougainville Copper Ltd (BCL) over what they say is historical mismanagement of the massive Panguna copper mine that operated in the 1970s and 80s.

An additional 1,500 residents of Bougainville joined the class action, representing a 50% increase since the filing of the legal action, lawyers said in a news release Monday.

Over 4,500 claimants are now seeking compensation, expected to be in the billions of dollars, for historical mismanagement of the Panguna copper mine, which caused large scale environmental and social harm.

“The large increase in claimants demonstrates the strength of feeling among local people that Rio Tinto and BCL must make amends for decades of environmental devastation,“ Martin Miriori, the lead claimant of the suit and paramount chief of the Basikang Taingku clan, said in the statement.

”This issue will not go away, as the legal action has attracted strong support, and reminded the world of the destruction caused by the mine operator’s reckless actions.”

“Since the investigation into this claim began three years ago, we have spent significant time meeting with local residents in the affected region, engaging with scientific experts across various disciplines and undertaking the necessary preparatory steps to commence the class action,“ said Matthew Mennilli, partner at Sydney-based law firm Morris Mennilli who is representing the class together with the Port Moresby-based firm Goodwin Bidar Nutley Lawyers.

Panguna was shut in 1989 after local protests over the disbursement of revenue from the mine degenerated into a civil war that lasted 10 years and killed as many as 20,000 people.

Neither Rio Tinto nor BCL ever undertook, nor have they committed to undertaking, any form of environmental or social impacts remediation.

The class action is made up of a majority of villagers in the affected region of Bougainville and has the confirmed support of 71 local clan leaders. The action seeks compensation for the environmental damage caused to the area and loss and damage suffered by the villagers living in the affected region, lawyers said.

In February, Bougainville Copper received a five-year extension for its exploration licence for the Panguna copper-gold project on the South Pacific island.

Rio Tinto gave away its stake in 2016, effectively donating the mine. That left the governments of Papua New Guinea and Bougainville each with 36.4% ownership of BCL.

“We are reviewing the details of the claim. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are unable to comment further at this time,” Rio Tinto said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News at the time of the filing in May.