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Bougainville Island is a 9,300 km² island located to the east of the main landmass of Papua New Guinea and forming part of the Solomon Islands archipelago. 

The broad area that is alleged to have been affected by the operation and subsequent abandonment of the Mine is located in the central and southern parts of Bougainville Island between the village of Panguna in the Crown Prince Ranges and the Empress Augusta Bay (Affected Area).

In accordance with local custom and practice, the villagers in the Affected Area have a strong physical, economic and cultural connection to the land on which they live.  Most villagers:

• Live in small villages.
• Rely on natural water sources, including the Jaba-Kawerong river system, for water for drinking, cleaning and other ordinary activities.
• Depend on foraging, growing crops and raising animals such as pigs for their main sustenance while supplementing those activities with hunting and fishing in the surrounding forests and waterways.
• Maintain sacred shrines which are used for religious ceremonies, storing valued icons and burying the dead.

In the legal proceedings to be commenced against Rio Tinto and BCL, it will be alleged that, as a consequence of the Mine and the impugned conduct of Rio Tinto and BCL:

• Tailings and fine overburden have been spread across the Affected Area.
• The Jaba-Kawerong river system has been contaminated and the water in the river system has been polluted, thereby rendering it unsuitable or unsafe for drinking, cleaning, irrigation and other activities.
• The natural flow of the Jaba-Kawerong river system has changed, causing contaminated water to overflow into surrounding agricultural land.
• The presence and movement of waste rock, tailings and fine overburden in and through the Affected Area has:
  • Smothered and killed, and continues to smother and kill, flora.
  • Rendered the Affected Area unsuitable for future plant establishment.
  • Killed or dispersed, and continues to kill or disperse, fauna.

In the legal proceedings it will be alleged that:

• The tailings are low in essential plant nutrients and, as they travel through the Jaba-Kawerong river system, smother, kill and disperse flora and fauna in the Affected Area.
• The waste rock has leached, and continues to leach, acid into waterways, thereby poisoning and dispersing flora and fauna, and rendering land unsuitable for farming.

There has been no remediation of the Affected Area.  Rio Tinto has adopted a Human Rights Policy, but, as the saying goes, talk is cheap.  Remediation of the Affected Area is not.  Rio Tinto’s Human Rights Policy states:

1. 1. “Rio Tinto respects and supports the dignity, wellbeing and human rights of all people including the communities where we live and work, our workforce and others affected by our activities and business relationships.”
   2. “We respect the livelihoods and health of communities impacted by our operations, their right to clean drinking water and sanitation, rights relating to the ownership or use of land and natural resources and the right to a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.”
   3. “We acknowledge links between human rights and managing climate change and other environmental impacts including access to and quality of water.”

Source:  Rio Tinto Human Rights Policy

Prior to commencing any class action, it is necessary for lawyers to spend significant time consulting with affected communities, identifying claimants, gathering and assessing evidence, formulating a case theory and preparing the relevant Court documents.

Ordinarily, it will take at least two to three years from the commencement of a class action to achieve a resolution by way of a Court judgment or settlement between the parties.

Each class action is different and the time ultimately required to achieve a resolution will depend on a variety of factors, including the complexity of the factual and legal issues in the case, the nature and quantum of the parties’ evidence, and the tactics adopted by the defendants throughout the proceedings. 

In September 2020, the Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC), acting on behalf of certain individuals impacted by the Panguna Mine, lodged a human rights complaint against Rio Tinto with the Australian Government’s National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.  In 2021, Rio Tinto, with some contribution from BCL, agreed to fund an independent assessment of the environmental damage (Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment). 

The Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment is overseen by a committee comprising representatives from the HRLC, BCL, the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, and landowner and community members.   A representative of Rio Tinto was previously a member of the committee.  The assessment is ongoing.  Importantly, Rio Tinto has given no binding and legally enforceable commitment that it will compensate local landowners and villagers when the assessment has been completed, nor has it given any such commitment that it will rehabilitate the Affected Area. 

The Panguna Mine Action is necessary to hold Rio Tinto and BCL accountable and to seek compensation for Class Members.  The Panguna Mine Action has no association with the Panguna Mine Legacy Impact Assessment or the HRLC.

Class Members are those eligible current and former residents of Bougainville who have signed the Litigation Funding Agreement and other documents necessary to join the Panguna Mine Action.

While there is no guarantee that the Panguna Mine Action will result in a favourable Court judgment or settlement between the parties, if the Panguna Mine Action is successful it will likely require Rio Tinto and/or BCL to pay compensation to Class Members.  In that event, you would receive a share of the compensation, after the legal costs of the action and the fees and costs of the Funder have been deducted.

The Funder is Panguna Mine Action LLC.

The Litigation Funding Agreement is an agreement between the Funder, Panguna Mine Action LLC, and each Class Member.

The Litigation Funding Agreement provides for Panguna Mine Action LLC to fund the investigation and prosecution of the proposed Panguna Mine Action.  In return, the Litigation Funding Agreement provides that Panguna Mine Action LLC will be reimbursed for the costs it has paid and receive a share of any compensation to be distributed amongst Class Members.

The Litigation Funding Agreement provides that all legal costs and other fees associated with the Panguna Mine Action will be paid by the Funder, Panguna Mine Action LLC, and not by the Class Members.

No.  If you sign the Litigation Funding Agreement, you will not be required to pay any out of pocket legal costs or other expenses associated with the investigation and prosecution of the Panguna Mine Action.  The Funder will obtain its payment from any proceeds recovered.

In taking on the financial obligation to pay the costs of the Panguna Mine Action, the Funder is entitled to be reimbursed those costs from any “Resolution Sum” received by Class Members.  The Funder is also entitled to a proportion of the Resolution Sum as a fee for funding the investigation and prosecution of the Panguna Mine Action.  In addition, the Funder is entitled to a “Project Management Fee” in return for providing the Class Members with project management services.  The Funder’s fees may be subject to Court approval.