A parliamentary inquiry has recommended that Rio Tinto compensate traditional owners for decimating the Juukan Gorge caves.
In May this year, the company blew up the 46,000-year-old rock shelters in Western Australia's Pilbara region to source high-grade iron ore, despite warnings of the caves’ cultural significance.
An interim report released yesterday has made seven recommendations including ceasing mining activity in the area, improving cultural heritage laws and paying restitution to the owners who have described the cultural site’s loss as ‘immeasurable’.