International condemnation and a shareholder revolt ensued, and Rio apologised for the deed. After the blast, with nothing left to lose, they broke a “gag clause” in the agreement and went to the media. They had entered into an agreement years earlier with Rio but say they were then not listened to as they tried to articulate the importance of the gorge. The blast was legal – but it went against the wishes of the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people. Rio copped significant damage, too: the fallout from its bid to mine the $US135 million deposit has forced it to remove about $US11 billion worth of iron-ore reserves, at today’s prices, from its plans. Also damaged were the next-closest cave, the gorge and the waterhole. These are some of the objects discovered in the years before an explosion destroyed the main cave in May 2020 as Rio Tinto sought to expand its mine to access more ore. Archaeological digs in the caves have turned up thousands of Indigenous artefacts, among them the oldest grindstones found in the Pilbara, a 28,000-year-old marsupial bone sharpened into a tool, and part of a 4000-year-old plaited hair belt with DNA links to today’s traditional owners. Traditional owners believe their ancestors’ spirits still visit this pool. Under an agreement with Rio, they have to apply to the miner to visit the gorge.Īt its base is a stream, dry for most of the year but with a perennial water source – a rock pool shaped like a snake’s head. Within the small gorge are several natural caves that served as shelters for the traditional owners and native title holders of the land, the Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura people, for tens of thousands of years.
It’s been leased from the state by Rio for its Brockman 4 iron ore mine since 1965. The country around Juukan Gorge, 80 kilometres from Tom Price, is spectacular too, but tourists don’t go there. Tom Price, set up in the 1960s by Rio Tinto, provides a base from which to explore the stunning landscapes of the Hamersley Range and the gorges and waterfalls of the nearby Karijini National Park. Tourists from Perth travel 1000 kilometres up the coast to Exmouth to start the drive, which follows the path of a Dreamtime sea serpent inland to the town of Tom Price and then on to Broome. Winter school holidays are peak time on the Warlu Way cultural drive. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size
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