On 29 June 2021, global mining company Rio Tinto (Rio) announced force majeure [1], which temporarily terminated customer contracts associated with their sole South African business, Richards Bay Minerals (RBM) based in the province KwaZulu Natal [2]. RBM was a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Blue Horizon [3], a consortium of investors, also including local communities [4]. RBM was viewed as “a world leader in heavy mineral sands extraction and refining” (Rio Tinto, 2020), producing and exporting titanium dioxide slag used in product ingredients ranging from plastics to sunscreen. Click here to read full article