Rio Tinto signs land use agreements in Pilbara

Rio Tinto Ltd says it has secured land use partnerships with five indigenous groups in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.

The agreements provide Rio Tinto with consent for all new developments on the traditional owners land, including support for expansions.

Rio Tinto also said it expected to conclude negotiations by the end of the year with the four remaining indigenous groups upon whose land mining or infrastructure operations were situated.

"For Rio Tinto, these participation agreements secure platforms of stability and business certainty for decades into the future," said Rio Tinto chief executive for Iron Ore and Australia, Sam Walsh.

"For Aboriginal people they help to create a future where culture and law is sustained and celebrated, where their children and grandchildren's children will enjoy a far greater opportunity for health and education and, as a result, jobs and wealth creation."

Rio Tinto said the agreements would be implemented through a series of committees and corporations.

They applied seven regional standards that were unique and measurable, marking a new approach to the way Aboriginal groups and resources companies could work together, the company said.