Rio Tinto says: “Wherever we work, we are committed to minimizing the environmental effects of our activities and to ensuring that local communities benefit as much as possible from having Rio Tinto as a neighbour.” Leigh Clifford, Rio Tinto Chief Executive, 2000-07145

Rio Tinto does: The Grasberg mine in West Papua, Indonesia has been probably the most heavily criticized mine in the world in recent years, featuring as the subject of a series of revealing media reports. The mine is a joint venture between Rio Tinto and US corporation Freeport-McMoRan, and represents the largest gold deposit and third largest copper deposit in the world. It is protected by Indonesian military and police forces involved in well documented human rights violations in suppressing West Papua’s independence movement.

The conflict in West Papua has caused over 100,000 deaths over the past decades. Serious human rights violations have occurred near the mine, and the companies have regularly been accused of complicity in them owing to their reliance on the military and police to provide security for company operations.

Click here to read about Rio Tinto’s human rights violations