Council welcomes McArthur River mine decision

 The Northern Land Council (NLC) has applauded a Supreme Court decision which effectively ceases expansion operations at the McArthur River mine in the Northern Territory.

In October last year the Territory’s Mines Minister Chris Natt approved Xstrata’s plan to turn the McArthur River mine, near Borroloola, into an open cut operation. Traditional Aboriginal owners argued the approval process was flawed because the Territory Government failed to follow proper procedures under the Mines Management Act or take environmental concerns into consideration.

Today Justice David Angel ruled in favour of the traditional owners. The NLC’s Norman Fry says it vindicates those who opposed the expansion. “You simply can’t trample over the rights of traditional Aboriginal people from Borroloola and McArthur River region,” he said. “You simply cannot trample over the environmental processes in 2007 that you could in the 1960s and ’70s. It’s just not on.”

A statement released by McArthur River Mining says the company is disappointed with the decision and it will consider the judgement carefully. Mr Natt says the Government will review the reasons for the Supreme Court’s decision and examine all legal avenues before commenting on the decision.

http://abc.net.au/message/news/stories/ms_news_1910502.htm

UPDATE 1-Australia court rules against Xstrata mine revamp

SYDNEY, April 30 (Reuters) - An Australian court on Monday ruled against a A$110 million ($92 million) redevelopment by Swiss-based mining group Xstrata Plc (XTA.L: Quote, Profile , Research) of the giant McArthur River zinc mine after a challenge by local landowners.

The decision by the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory overturns an earlier ruling giving Xstrata permission to proceed. The court found the government did not follow the correct legal approval process.
Xstrata wants to dig a new underground mine at the mine to replace an ageing open pit operation that is running out of rich ore, requiring the diversion of the McArthur River for 5.5 km (3.4 miles). It was granted permission by the Ministry of Mines to proceed last year after a lengthy legal battle.

“Xstrata has failed at the first hurdle, so this is not just going back into the minister’s office and getting the boxes ticked,” said Charles Roche, a senior campaign officer for the Environment Centre of the Northren Territory.

By James Regan 

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=allBreakingNews&storyID=2007-04-30T062931Z_01_SYD154601_RTRIDST_0_XSTRATA-COURT-UPDATE-1.XML

McArthur River mine expansion ‘invalid’

A group of Aboriginal people has had a legal victory against moves to expand a multi-million dollar zinc mine in the Northern Territory.

In the Territory Supreme Court today, Justice David Angel found that the approval of the expansion of the McArthur River mine was invalid because Mines Minister Chris Natt did not follow the proper process.

In October last year, Mr Natt approved company Xstrata’s plan to turn the McArthur River mine, near Borroloola, into an open cut mine.

The expansion project involves the diversion of the McArthur River.

Lawyers for the traditional Aboriginal owners of the mine area argued that in the approval process the Territory Government failed to follow proper procedures under the Mines Management Act or take environmental concerns into consideration.

Outside court, the NT Environment Centre’s Charles Roche said the decision protects the McArthur River.

“The decision for [the mine] means they have to stop work immediately, which means they can’t go ahead with digging the canal at this point in time,” he said.

“It’s basically stop work until this matter’s settled.”

Xstrata has the option of appealing against the ruling or to undertake the approval process again.

The NT’S Attorney-General says the Government is still digesting the complex decision.

But Syd Stirling admits there may have been a problem with the approval process.

“But it may be that Government’s not followed its processes properly, but I’m probably reluctant to say more than that until we get a full brief and I get a full understanding,” he said.

“I would imagine the Minister for Mining will be getting the same brief and making a comment later.”

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200704/s1910305.htm

Aboriginal owners overturn zinc mine bid

A group of traditional Aboriginal land owners has won a bid to overturn the Northern Territory government’s approval for the expansion of a major territory zinc mine.

The controversial project would transform the McArthur River Mine from underground to open-cut mining by diverting the river near the Gulf of Carpentaria by 5.5 kilometres.

The mine’s owner, Swiss mining company Xstrata, was given approval for the $110 million expansion by the NT government in October last year.

But the Northern Land Council (NLC) mounted a legal challenge on behalf of the traditional owners, arguing the government had failed to follow proper procedures under the Mines Management Acts.

In the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Darwin on Monday Justice David Angel ruled in favour of the traditional owners, finding the government did not follow a correct process.

“The minister for mines and energy’s acceptance of the amended mining management plan was of no effect because the mining management plan was not in respect of the mining activities,” he said in his judgment.

“(It) does not authorise the third defendants’ proposed open-cut mining operation.”

Operators McArthur River Mining (MRM) first applied to expand the mine, on one of the world’s largest zinc and lead deposits, in March last year.

The company said the underground mine was no longer viable and the development of an open-cut mine was the only way to secure the future of the operation.

The NT Government sent the plan back to the drawing board to deal with environmental concerns.

Monday’s judgement casts doubt over whether the company can proceed with its expansion plans because Justice Angel found the approval process the government relied on was invalid.

Outside the court Charles Roche from the NT Environment Centre said the judgment was a win for both traditional owners and the environment.

“We do believe the decision is invalid under the act….it certainly should raise the bar that we will accept nothing less than best practice,” he told reporters.

“We are delighted, it is a great win for the NT environment.”

Work on diverting the river was supposed to begin this dry season, which officially starts in the NT on Monday

“The decision means they have to stop work immediately so they can’t go ahead with digging the canal at this point in time,” Mr Roche said.

“This was basically the last way we could protect the river from diversion, we have been concerned for a long time about its impacts. Today we saved a tropical river and it’s a great outcome.”

Mr Roche said it would be interesting to see if MRM, which threatened to pull out of the Northern Territory last year if its expansion plans were not approved, would continue to pursue plans for a river diversion.

“They said if they could not get this approval they would walk away,” he said.

MRM says on its website that the mine faces closure because underground mining is no longer viable.

But if open-cut mining was able to proceed, it would extend the mine’s life by 25 years, providing jobs and other economic benefits to the Borroloola region.

© 2007 AAP
http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Aboriginal-owners-overturn-zinc-mine-bid/2007/04/30/1177788034341.html

McArthur River - Supreme Court legal decision

The fight to protect the McArthur River from an expansion of Xstrata’s underground mine enters a new phase this week. The expansion involves the mining of and diversion of the McArthur River for 5.5km and risks severe impacts on the riverine environment from pollution and sedimentation.

The legal challenge by the Traditional Owners (Yanyuwa, Mara, Garrawa and Gurdanji) from McArthur River against the NT Government’s approval of the mine, will be handed down in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory today at 2pm by Judge Angel.

A decision for the plaintiffs could see the NT Governments mining approval overturned and all work on the mine expansion and river diversion halted.

A second challenge by the Traditional Owners in the Federal Court (Darwin) starts on Thursday 3rd May. It challenges the validity of the Commonwealth  Minister for Environment and Heritage’s approval to construct the mine. The challenge centres on three issues, the bilateral agreement with the NT Government, failures associated with the conditions attached to the approval and a crucial lack of information relevant to threatened species.