Sandfire external probe finds Aboriginal cultural heritage damage due to process failures (updated)

Sandfire Resources

05/06/2024 01:45

(Adds further details throughout)
       June 5 (Reuters) - Sandfire Resources  SFR.AX  said on
Wednesday an external probe had found the miner damaged
Aboriginal cultural heritage at a copper mine in Western
Australia due to "ignorance and process failings".
    Damage to artefact scatters at the Monty copper mine,
northeast of Perth, occurred in 2017 and 2018 due to a series of
process failures during the construction of a satellite mine.
However, it came to the company's attention only in September
2023.     
    "Sandfire's failure to protect the artefact scatters and to
quickly escalate the issue once identified is unacceptable,"
Sandfire Chair John Richards said in a statement.
    Shares of the company slipped as much as 5.6% to A$8.86 by
0029 GMT, while the broader benchmark  .AXJO  was up 0.2%.
    The damage, which was first flagged by the Australian miner
in November last year, had led the traditional owners, the
Yugunga-Nya, to demand the executive team step down after
failures to address the situation.
    Aboriginal heritage protection has come into the spotlight
since Rio Tinto destroyed rock shelters in Western Australia's
Juukan Gorge in 2020 that had contained evidence of continual
human habitation stretching back into the last Ice Age.
    The findings of the probe, which was ordered by the company,
confirmed that Sandfire's then executive management failed to
define line accountability for heritage, while ensuring measures
were in place to manage heritage deeper within the organisation.
    "Sandfire recognises the magnitude of these findings and has
committed to an extensive programme of work designed to ensure
the protection of cultural heritage across all of its
operations," Richards said.
    A draft of the investigation has been shared with the
Yugunga-Nya, the company said.

 (Reporting by Prerna Bedi in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu)
 ((Prerna.Bedi@thomsonreuters.com; +91 98052 24616;))