As you can see, a highway runs super close to the lines, but they’re still easy to avoid if you just stay on the road. Vigo said he went off-road because of “a mechanical problem.” Another possibility: He made his own route because he wanted to skip paying the toll. He ended up paying a $1,550 fine, which is a little more than a typical toll. Less than what Greenpeace got fined, though ($200,000), and less than the cost of commissioning new art from the Nazca (incalculable, as aliens answered their call and took them away).
Australian Miners Blew Up A 46,000-Year-Old Site, And Got Nothing Out Of It
We’ve delved pretty far back into history today. But now we’re going way into pre-history, to a site called Juukan Gorge, where humans sheltered for 46,000 years, even through the last ice age. It’s a sacred site for the indigenous Puutu Kunti Kuurama and Pinikura people, whose ancestors lived there, and a source for relics and human remains. So when mining company Rio Tinto pursued digging rights there, the PKKP sued to stop them. In the meantime, Rio Tinto stuffed the caves with explosives then said it was too late to remove them and just slammed down on the detonator.
The target of this mining operation was reportedly $100 million of iron ore. Now, if you’re wondering about making next month’s car payment or just buying lunch, $100 million must sound like a fortune, but let us assure you, that is not a large sum when we’re talking mineral deposits. It might well cost more than that just to build a new mine and extract the iron. And iron, of course, is not a rare metal, and Australia in particular is bursting with the stuff.
What we’re saying is, maybe that mining company in Avatar had a point about how much they needed that unobtanium, but Rio Tinto are 100 percent dicks.
20th Century Pictures
In the end, after their explosive outburst, the company wasn’t allowed to go forward with mining after all, so the happy ending to this story is that no one benefited from the fiasco whatever. The CEO, the chairman, and other executives had to step down. Parliament also ordered Rio Tinto to rebuild the cave system.
Yeah, you heard that right: They’re supposed to rebuild … a cave system. Uh, good luck with that, Rio Tinto. Hope you have 60 million years and the mighty elements of creation on your side.
Follow Ryan Menezes on Twitter for more stuff no one should see.
![Disclaimer](<a href="https://rebrand.ly/LazadaSalePh"><img src="http://getfreefollowers.net/images/lazhorizontal.jpeg" /></a>){kind=link}
0 Comments