Rio Tinto provides expertise to help CBG resolve bauxite mining dispute with local communities
The bauxite mining company Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée SA (CBG) is likely to take forward the long-due dispute settlement with local communities over the resettlement of a bauxite mine. According to a report, now Rio Tinto has provided expertise to CBG to help settle the dispute, which has been continuing since Guinean villagers in communities around the mine filed a complaint in 2019 with International Finance Corporation alleging contraventions by CBG of its commitments around resettlement and pollution.
Bauxite producer CBG is 51 per cent owned by consortium Halco Mining Inc. and 49 per cent by the Guinean government. Rio Tinto and Alcoa Corp AA.N each hold 45% of Halco, while Dadco Investments holds the rest.
On Friday, February 12, Rio Tinto said that it offered a Guinea-based Africa specialist and a manager with experience on resettlement and human right to CBG to help find an outcome aligned with international standards.
The global miner is battling to restore its reputation around managing human rights after it destroyed two ancient rock shelters sacred to Australian Aboriginal people for an iron ore mine last May.
In 2018, Human Rights Watch found that CBG and another bauxite producer routinely displaced rural residents from their land to build mines, roads, and other infrastructure.
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