Rio Tinto Cuts Executive Bonuses Following Rock-Shelter Destruction
24 August 2020 - 9:29AM
Dow Jones News
By Mike Cherney
SYDNEY--Mining giant Rio Tinto PLC said it would cut executive
bonuses, including for its chief executive, following an internal
review into the company's decision to blow up two rock shelters
that were important to indigenous Australians.
Rio said Monday that Chief Executive Jean-Sébastien Jacques,
Chief Executive of Iron Ore Chris Salisbury and Group Executive for
Corporate Relations Simone Niven would not receive a
performance-related bonus for 2020 under the company's short-term
incentive plan. In addition, Mr. Jacques' 2016 long-term incentive
plan award will be reduced by 1 million British pounds (US$1.3
million).
Rio said its review found that although the company obtained
legal authority to impact the rock shelters in northwestern
Australia's minerals-rich Pilbara region, it fell short of
standards and internal guidance that Rio sets for itself. Rio also
found a series of decisions and flaws in systems over an extended
period of time ultimately led to the incident, and that no single
individual or error was solely to blame.
"There were numerous missed opportunities over almost a decade
and the company failed to uphold one of Rio Tinto's core values -
respect for local communities and for their heritage," said
Chairman Simon Thompson. "We are determined to learn, improve and
rebuild trust across various internal and external partners."
The review detailed a number of areas where Rio could improve.
Rio said it continues to cooperate with a government inquiry into
the incident.
Rio Tinto previously apologized for the destruction of the caves
and acknowledged that its actions had damaged trust between the
company and the traditional owners of land around the Juukan Gorge
site, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people, or PKKP. The
caves contained a trove of artifacts, indicating they had been
occupied by humans more than 46,000 years ago.
Write to Mike Cherney at mike.cherney@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 23, 2020 19:14 ET (23:14 GMT)
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