Mining giant Rio Tinto reports that it has entered into a land-use agree- ment with the Yindjibarndi Tradi-tional Owners in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The agreement provides Rio Tinto with consents to future exploration, infrastructure and mining on land over which the Yindjibarndi have received a determination or where their claim is still in progress.

This comprises about 13 000 m2 in the central area between Tom Price and Karratha, and includes Rio Tinto’s major rail lines and supporting infrastructure and some deposits scheduled for future development.

The agreement was authorised at a public ceremony in Roebourne on June 19, 2013, at the conclusion of a specially convened Yindjibarndi community meeting. Formal negotiations with the traditional owners had been under way for more than two years through the Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation (YAC).

“This is a ceremony of great significance for both Rio Tinto and the Yindjibarndi people,” said Rio Tinto iron-ore CE Andrew Harding. “Not only have we secured certainty for the ongoing operations and exploration across the area, but we have also reached an agreement that will deliver substantial benefits to future generations of Yindjibarndi people for decades to come.”

The agreement will generate financial bene- fits to support cultural, community and commercial development activity and provide opportunities of intergenerational value for the Yindjibarndi people, as well as lay down a number of commitments and agreed stand- ards, covering how Rio Tinto and the Yindji- barndi will work together as partners, Harding explains.

Rio Tinto has now signed partici-pation agreements with six native title claim groups in the Pilbara – the Ngarluma, Kuruma Marthudundera, Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura, Nyiyaparli, Ngarlawangga and the Yinhawankga Traditional Owners.

Further Background
The Yindjibarndi group has both a native title determination and an additional area, which is subject to a native title claim. These cover the Robe and Hamersley rail lines and other infrastructure.

There are two mining areas that fall within the claim area. In addition, the north-west rail corridor contemplated as part of the Koodaideri development will fall within the claim area. The proposed agreement with the group will cover all Rio Tinto’s iron-ore mining and infrastructure activities within the determination and the claim areas.

Housing Portfolio

Towards the end of March, Rio Tinto wel-comed the first new resident to its growing housing portfolio, as the first of 100 employees moved into their new homes inside the newly developed Jingarri Estate, in Karratha.

The handover of keys to Tristan Crane and Conor Hemsley marks a milestone in the multimillion-dollar agreement Rio Tinto entered into with construction company Pindan and Otan Property Funds Manage-ment in March last year.

The keys were handed over by Rio Tinto housing officer Ebony Debono to the family on March 21, and are the first of 100 four-bedroom house and land packages to be handed over as part of the agreement.

Besides providing additional residential accommodation for Rio Tinto employees, the company’s investment-supported development of the 300-lot Jingarri Estate has enabled the sale of additional lots to provide access to diverse and affordable housing options for a range of Pilbara residents and investors.

The Crane family said they were excited to be moving into the newly finished property and to make it their home.

“It’s exciting to be moving into a beautiful, brand-new house. “It has much more room than our previous house in Millars Well and we were pleasantly surprised at the quality and spaciousness of it,” said Tristan.

The family said the kitchen and the outdoor living area were their favourite parts of the brand-new home.

Rio Tinto accommodation and towns man-agement GM Andrew Wildy says that this investment demonstrates Rio Tinto’s ongoing commitment to alleviate accommodation shortages in the Pilbara, maintain a strong residential employee base across its towns and support the government’s Pilbara Cities vision.

“Jingarri Estate is a high-quality develop-ment and we hope it will inspire future invest-ments in Pilbara housing that will help build strong and vibrant Pilbara communities.”

The remaining houses are expected to be handed over throughout 2013 and early 2014. Rio Tinto’s residential property portfolio will increase to more than 3 000 managed dwellings by the end of the year, with further residential property investments planned in both Karratha and nearby Wickham.

First Aboriginal Trainee

Rio Tinto also welcomed its first Aboriginal trainee in the role of a permanent emergency management officer (EMO) in the Pilbara.

Rio Tinto emergency management and security superintendent Matt Dyson said they were proud to welcome Tyson Martin as an EMO based at Dampier Ports.
“These positions require specialist skills sets and while we have had other indigenous trainees start in this area, Martin is the first to finish the three-year programme.

He later completed the Certificate III in Mines Emergency Response and Rescue, and aims to start the Certificate IV in Health- care, which, when completed, will qualify him as an industrial paramedic,” Dyson said.

Martin, a Noongar/Yamatji, said he had always liked helping people and it had been his childhood ambition to one day be a firefighter, which is now part of his job.

“I didn’t do this straight away. After I left school, I started off studying theatre arts, and then worked with the Yirra Yaakin Theatre company and toured the Northern Territory and south-west Western Australia for a year. It was when I started with the Rio Tinto Work Ready programme in 2009 that they suggested I try the EMO traineeship and I haven’t looked back,” he said.

The emergency management teams have an important role in Rio Tinto’s mining operations, providing a high level of rapid emergency medical and incidence response, 24 hours a day, as well as managing day-to-day health and security compliance.

Rio Tinto also supports the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) through a memorandum of understanding that formalises the existing mutual aid arrange- ments for rapid emergency response to inci-dents on and off Rio Tinto sites in the Pilbara.

The agreement, which was signed by Rio Tinto GM: port operations Nick Serle and DFES commissioner Wayne Gregson late last year, also outlines a framework for the establishment and operation of private fire brigades at Tom Price, Pannawonica and Paraburdoo.