After 32 years, Rio Tinto to fund study of environmental damage caused by Panguna mine

Three decades after leaving Bougainville as the island descended into civil war, the mining giant will assess impact of its former mine

Thirty-two years since it fled Bougainville island, Rio Tinto has promised to fund an independent assessment of the ongoing environmental damage caused by its Panguna mine, a move landowners have welcomed as a start" towards repairing decades of contamination.

The mining giant has committed to a multi-million dollar environmental and human rights impact assessment" of its former copper and gold mine in Panguna, which was the flashpoint for Bougainville's decade-long civil war.