Rio Tinto faced renewed criticism from Traditional Owners at its Perth annual general meeting on Thursday, accused of failing to modernise outdated Indigenous land use agreements and address concerns over environmental impact and compensation.

Robe River Kuruma people met with Rio Tinto executives after the AGM, where they said the miner had not fulfilled commitments made in the wake of the 2020 Juukan Gorge destruction — an incident that drew international condemnation and prompted board-level resignations.

While Juukan Gorge is not on Robe River Kuruma land, the Robe River Kuruma Aboriginal Corporation said the fallout from the destructive incident spotlighted long-running issues with the company's practices in the Pilbara region.

Robe River Kuruma woman Deanna McGowan said during public question time that Rio's Mesa J iron ore mine – the company's largest on the group's Native Title land - had been operating for three decades but generated payments for the community in the past three years only.

"You have paid us for three years," Ms McGowan said.

"And here we're now … 17 years of payments that Rio has cheated us at Mesa J."

Ms McGowan also accused Rio Tinto of failing to rehabilitate land damaged during earlier phases of mining in the 1980s.

"We do not forget. We cannot forget. Until you remedy your past, it stains our future together too," she said.

The RRK People have Traditional rights to almost 16,000 square kilometres of Country in the western part of the Hamersley Range within the Shire of Ashburton in WA, including the areas around the township of Pannawonica, the entire Robe River system, and part of the Fortescue River, lands to which they hold "deep and enduring" cultural ties.

RRKAC chief executive Anthony Galante said the corporation had been working hard to build a positive and professional relationship with Rio Tinto, as operator of the Robe River Joint Venture, but this had been "repeatedly undermined by Rio Tinto's failure to address issues critical to fairness, cultural identity and healthy Country".

The company owns two iron ore mines within the Robe River Kuruma Native Title area in the state's Pilbara region, 1400 kilometres north of Perth.

Rio Tinto chairman Dominic Barton and chief executive Jakob Stausholm acknowledged Ms McGowan's concerns at a media conference after the AGM, where they reiterated the company's commitment to updating the agreement with RRKNC, and solving disputes over water.

"There's no doubt that mining has an impact [on water use], and we are very committed to minimise the impact," Mr Stausholm said.

"We are the first ones ... who are coming up with a desalination plant, so that we bring in a lot of water.

"This desalination project is, I think, a start of us really making a difference. So she's [Ms McGowan] raising a highly relevant issue, but I would argue that we are ready, well on the way with the solution."

Addressing concerns raised about the land use agreement, Mr Stausholm said Rio Tinto was keen on working with the RRKAC to find common ground.

"Both Dom and I have been to the Country. I have met with the elders many times. We are very keen on finding the right solutions with the Robe River Kuruma people," he said.

"The key thing is that we learn from the history and we find better solutions in the future. We are absolutely committed to getting the right future solutions."

Mr Barton said water use across the Pilbara was not just affected by mining.

"There's also climate changes that are going on as well, in terms of replenishment of aquifers and so forth that we need to work through," he said.

"So we're very keen on a broader leverage of the desalinisation to be able to work on things, and I think government has been supportive of that."

Earlier, Rio Tinto iron ore CEO Simon Trott said the miner had invested in a desalination plant in Dampier to reduce reliance on groundwater in the region.

"The desal plant is progressing well. We will turn that on next year," he said.

Mr Trott also acknowledged "some issues" regarding historical compensation remained unresolved.

The criticism at the Perth AGM followed similar allegations at Rio's London AGM last month, where advocacy group London Mining Network accused the company of downplaying environmental impacts of five of its mines in five different countries.

Rio rejected claims of bias in its ESG disclosures, saying it uses independent experts and adhered to international standards.

Rio Tinto reaffirmed plans to ramp up investment in its WA operations, including development of the Rhodes Ridge deposit, which the company said could become Australia's biggest iron ore mine, with capacity exceeding 100 million tonnes per annum.

Mr Barton said Rio Tinto expected to invest more than US$13.3 billion in new mines and infrastructure over the next three years.

"We're also studying Rhodes Ridge, which may one day become the biggest iron ore mine built in Australia, potentially producing more than 100 million tonnes per annum," he said.