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Rio Tinto class action over Bougainville mine damage set for October hearing

The very first hearing date has been embeded in a class action versus miner Rio Tinto for historic ecological and social damage caused by the Bougainville copper mine in Papua New Guinea that it operated in the 1970s and 1980s, lawyers stated.

The first court hearing will take place in Papua New Guinea's capital Port Moresby on Oct. 10, according to attorneys representing the plaintiffs.

We are devoted to advancing the action versus Rio Tinto and BCL on behalf of the class, said Matthew Mennilli, partner at Sydney-based law firm Morris Mennilli in a declaration. We. intend to empower plaintiffs after their voices were unheard and. ignored for so many years.

BCL, or Bougainville Copper Ltd, ran the Panguna. mine in which Rio Tinto held a majority stake. The mine stopped. operations in 1989 when related conflicts spiralled into a civil. war lasting for a years.

A Rio Tinto representative validated that it had actually been served. with a class action which it was evaluating the information of the. claim. As this is an ongoing legal matter, we are not able to. comment even more at this time, he said.

Rio Tinto in 2016 transferred its 53.8% stake in BCL to the. Autonomous Bougainville federal government and the Papua New Guinea. federal government for no quantity.

The miner in 2022 began work to assess the mine's tradition,. employing an independent group to examine the effect and consult on. next actions. It is because of report back to Rio this year.

Class actions are progressively being used by impacted. populations as a method to access greater payment from. resources business for destructive events.

More than 720,000 Brazilians, including 46 regional. governments, are suing BHP and Vale in a. possible 36 billion pound ($ 46.5 billion) claim over the 2015. collapse of the Mariana dam.

The class action against Rio Tinto is much smaller. It is. comprised of a majority of villagers in the affected area of. Bougainville. An additional 1,500 individuals have actually signed up with the class. action because it was submitted with 3,000 complaintants in May.

They are looking for compensation for historic mismanagement. of the Panguna Copper Mine, which triggered large scale. ecological and social damage, according to the statement.

(source: Reuters)