Traditional owners and Rio Tinto representatives visited the rock shelter near the Nammuldi mine in the Pilbara that was affected by a mine blast in September, the ABC reported.
The inspection confirmed that though the shelter was affected, no structural damage or damage to cultural materials had been found.
The blast at the Nammuldi mine dislodged a tree and rock overhanging the shelter on Muntulgura Guruma land, and Traditional Owners have said the ancient rock shelter is in a “fragile state”.
The initial assessments taken by drone last month finding no structural damage were confirmed by Rio Tinto vice president of health, safety, environment, and communities Cecile Thaxter.
The ABC reported Thaxter addressed the blast during an iron ore investor presentation.
“Yesterday, representatives from the Muntulgura Guruma people and Rio Tinto visited the rock shelter,” she said.
“Assessments found no structural damage to the rock shelter itself, and no damage to cultural materials.
“We will continue to work closely with the Muntulgura Guruma people.”
At the time of the blast, Rio chief executive officer of iron ore operations Simon Trott told the ABC the company will work with the Aboriginal community to understand what happened.
“The blast was designed so it would mimic effectively what you’d see in the natural environment,” he said.
“We need to understand what’s caused that so we can look at our controls and make whatever changes that we need to.”
Three years ago Rio Tinto’s 2020 Juukan Gorge mine blast destroyed two rock shelters.
The miner established the Juukan Gorge legacy foundation in response to the incident and committed to greater transparency around its approach to cultural heritage protection.
