BHP strikes heritage deal ahead of annual meeting

BHP (NYSE: BHP; LON: BHP) has reached an eleventh-hour deal with a coalition of Aboriginal land councils, as shareholders were pushing for a halt to all mining on sacred Indigenous sites leading up to a vote on the matter in Wednesday’s annual general meeting.

The move follows increased pressure on miners to protect cultural landmarks after Rio Tinto (LON: RIO) blasted a 46,000-year-old sacred site in Western Australia to expand an iron ore mine.

The agreement with the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance, a group of 20 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island land councils, formed after Rio Tinto’s criticized decision, seeks to identify areas where BHP and traditional owners can work together to improve standards and practices on cultural heritage.

The multinational miner said it would support changes to state and federal laws in Australia to ensure traditional owners give “free, prior and informed consent” before striking deals with mining companies.

It has also agreed to set up places to keep artifacts taken from heritage sites.

The president of BHP’s Australian minerals division, Edgar Basto, said he acknowledged the trust that traditional owners and the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance have put in the company.

“I look forward to our continuing partnership to deliver the commitments we have made together and our shared objectives for mutual benefit,” he said in the statement.

The Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility (ACCR), which wanted BHP to “immediately” halt activities that could “disturb, destroy or desecrate” Aboriginal heritage sites, said it would withdraw its proposed related resolution from tomorrow’s general meeting.

ACCR executive director Brynn O’Brien said the agreement was struck only “at the 11th hour” after BHP chairman, Ken MacKenzie, became directly involved in negotiations with Aboriginal leadership.

BHP has been reviewing expansion plans for its South Flank iron ore project in Western Australia, which would have destroyed dozens of sacred Aboriginal sites.

It has also clarified that Aboriginal owners are free to comment on the management of their cultural heritage, and is reviewing clauses around consent in its agreements.

— This article first appeared in MINING.com, part of Glacier Resource Innovation Group.