Shareholders queries were met with inadequate responses from the Rio Tinto board at their annual general meeting held in Brisbane on 24th April 2008, including the outlandish claim by Paul Skinner that mine tailings dumping into the river from the notorious Freeport mine are not toxic.
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A day before their London based Annual General Meeting, Senior Elder of the traditional owners of the country impacted by the Hope Downs mine site has requested Rio Tinto to halt operations and reconsider its proposed mining activities on site. Slim Parker urged the company: "In light of what they have done in the past destroying important sites in the area, they have the opportunity to make amends - they have the capacity today to make the decision not to mine this area at all. Our wish is to protect the scientific, historical cultural and spiritual heritage values of the area, and that they be preserved so everyone can share the significance. I have always maintained that this area should not be mined at all, that it should be preserved. Rio Tinto should halt their operations. The traditional owners, the Fortescue Martidja Banyjima people and the Nyarparli people are united in our desire to preserve this area."
Rio Tinto shareholders concerned with the company’s involvement in corruption and human right abuses linked to the operation of the giant Freeport mine in West Papua, have given their proxy votes to West Papuan and local environmental activists attending the companies 2006 Annual General Meeting in Melbourne.
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