Rio Tinto has helped farmers near one of its mining sites in Indonesian Borneo to triple their harvest yields in advance of the mine’s closure, which begins this December.
The initiative, part of plans for socially responsible closure of the Kelian mining complex in East Kalimantan, has generated yields of 1540 kilograms of milled rice per hectare (1374 pounds/acre) compared with 330kg when the project began three years ago.
The improvements, intended to reduce the impact of closure on the local economy, have been made by fairly simple advice provided by RT subsidiary, Kelian Equatorial Mining (KEM), such as ploughing and liming the ground. The programme has reduced the use of slash and burn farming methods, which poor yields had encouraged.
A company study found food shortages were a possibility among people living in 28 villages where farms did not satisfy local needs and where the gold and silver mining operation was a significant contributor to the economy.
The resultant food security programme has trained around 500 farmers in ‘at risk’ villages and has increased the area of land cultivated by each village by five hectares (12 acres) a year. Most of the training has been carried out by the local Rio Tinto foundation, Yayasan Anum Lio, which will continue to support farmers after the mine shuts.
Rio Tinto said: ‘Now that people have seen the results, there is much more community interest in the programme, with some people willing to pay for the assistance. We hope the programme may therefore be the catalyst to changes in farming practices that will provide far-reaching social and environmental benefits.’
KEM, which provides work for around 1900 employees and contractors, has set aside $15million (£8.4m) for social and environmental work following the closure of its operations, which will take place over three years.
Similar work is under way near another Rio Tinto mine in Brazil, although that operation is not closing in the near future.
Rio Tinto Brasil has set up an income generation project in the area in the vicinity of its Morro do Ouro gold mine in Paracatu, where it has encouraged subsistence farmers to share labour, and provided equipment and technical advice. The farmers have now moved beyond subsistence to supply the mine’s caterers with vegetables and hope to grow $200,000 worth of produce a year by mid-2005.
The group’s overall community contributions rose to $70m in 2003, compared with $48m in the previous year. Just over a third of the money was for ‘longer term’ community programmes set up either by the company or in partnership with others.
Rio Tinto has taken the unusual step of publicly declaring how much it paid – £215,200 ($390,000) – to have its latest social and environmental review verified by the ERM consultancy.
The company said it had revealed the amount ‘in the spirit of openness and transparency’, and because it already publicizes the cost of its financial audits.