Fortescue Reimagines Expansion That Threatens Australia's Sacred Site

Australian iron ore producer Fortescue Metals Group said Friday it will reconsider an expansion plan at one of its iron ore mines in the Pilbara region after an indigenous group said the project threatens sacred sites, including 60,000 people. summer stone shelter.

Fortescue's decision came after another miner, Rio Tinto, the world's largest iron ore producer, blew up a 46,000-year-old indigenous sacred site in Western Australia in May.

Although the company apologized, CEO Jean-Sebastian Jacques said Friday that it had other options but turned them down.

The Rio boss admitted the move allowed the company to gain access to an estimated 8 million tonnes of expensive iron ore. The second largest mining company in the world posted a profit from its iron ore division of about $ 4.6 billion in the first half of the year.

In light of the global noise caused by the Rio explosion, Fortescue has asked the government to postpone a decision on the legacy deletion request, which is part of the mine's expansion plan. The project will jeopardize culturally significant sites for the Vintavari Guruma people.

The planned expansion of the Queens Mine, part of the Solomon Project, encompasses over 70 cultural heritage sites, including stone shelters, campgrounds, rock carvings and engravings.

Tests of stone tools and other artifacts found more than a meter below the surface at this site have shown that the first two stone shelters were used and inhabited by humans, dating from 47,800 years ago, in one and approximately 60,000 years in the second, Sydney. Reported by the Morning Herald in June.

CEO Elizabeth Gaines said in an interview with analysts that the company's primary goal is to avoid damage to cultural heritage. She added that Fortescue had consulted with local indigenous peoples before developing an appropriate mine plan.

“As a result of these constructive consultations, we hope to avoid significant cultural heritage beyond the current two-year mine development plan,” Gaines said.

Fortescue reports that it has protected nearly 6,000 Aboriginal cultural heritage sites during its operation.

Solar Ambitions
The company is also preparing to test if it can manage its Christmas Creek iron ore mine in Pilbara on solar power alone during the day.

Alinta Energy, partner of the mining company on the project, is confident that the goal can be achieved.

The solar farm is part of a major project that will extend the Alinta power line that runs from the Newman gasifier to ru