Traditional owners of Juukan Gorge say they are not opposed to mining and are committed to rebuilding their relationship with Rio Tinto but say more work is required after last year’s destruction of the gorge’s prized cultural heritage.

The rare comments from Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura (PKKP) elder Burchell Hayes come ahead of the one-year anniversary on May 24 of Rio’s decision to detonate explosives in the gorge, thereby destroying a cave that contained 46,000-year-old heritage.