In September 2023, civil society actors, with the support of Eko, brought a petition of over 77,000 signatures to the offices of Rio Tinto demanding greater transparency on water quality and tailings management.
See details n The Ecologist article here
The Ekō petition follows two tailings dam failures at the QMM mine in 2022 with ensuing fish deaths, a fishing ban, and months of conflict.
The lack of a promised independent investigation into the tailings dam failures compounded existing needs for an external investigation into water management at QMM, in particular regarding the QMM tailings dam safety, and QMM’s management of their tailings and mine process wastewater.
There have been four tailings dam failures since the QMM mine operations began and two have resulted in publicly reported fish deaths.
The company promised an external investigation into the dam failures in 2022. However, in 2023 it was revealed that QMM had only undertaken an internal inquiry with external assistance.
The shared QMM briefing papers 1 and 2 were wholly inadequate at explaining the root cause of the dam failures.
The company also promised an external study into the cause of the 2022 fish deaths – events that QMM has repeatedly claimed had nothing to do with the release of a million cubic metres of QMM mine basin water or the tailings dam failures.
As of February 2024 they have still not released the report of the fish deaths study, despite repeated requests. This withholding of information undermines the company’s commitment to transparency, UN Guiding Principles on Human Rights, and the promises they made directly to both civil society and investors.
Investors are pressing Rio Tinto for the Independent water impact assessments, with urgent priority at the company’s Mongolia and Madagascar ( QMM) mine sites. See here
The Ekō petition echoes the demand for independent audits of QMM made at the AGM in 2023 by Andrew Lees Trust (ALT UK) and Publish What You Pay Madagascar (PWYP MG).
The Andrew Lees Trust and Publish What You Pay Madagascar have been pressing the company to resolve multiple issues with QMM over the last seven years including: water contamination from elevated uranium and lead and human rights violations around compensation processes.
Rio Tinto has declined multiple requests to accept an independent audit or impact assessment at QMM. Civil society continues to demand them.
