Bougainville passes new mining law, outraging mining opponents

Bougainville passes new mining law, outraging mining opponents

Many in Bougainville are determined to prevent Rio Tinto subsidiary Bougainville Copper Limited (BCL) returning to the island.  The company’s Panguna copper and gold mine triggered a war with the Papua New Guinea Defence Force, backed by Australia. See the...

Bougainville: "A people impoverished and humiliated by Rio Tinto"

The mine lies like a scar across a bloody face. Guava village sits in a remote area in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea (PNG), above a copper mine which closed 25 years ago. Resistance to the Rio Tinto-owned pit exploded in the late 1980s. Human rights abuses were...