Traditional Owners agreement

The mine is situated on pastoral land on the old McArthur River Station. In 1992, the Commonwealth Government negotiated directly with the Gurdanji Traditional Owners to compensate for the establishment of the mine. The Gurdanji agreed to relinquish title in return for the nearby Bauhinia Station.

Excisions from the mine’s land were subsequently made for the Caranbirini Conservation Reserve, a 1,200 hectare reserve within the McArthur River Station managed by the Parks and Wildlife Commission of the Northern Territory (PWCNT), and an additional parcel for a Gurdanji Traditional Owner.

The original agreement was made prior to the High Court Mabo decision in December 1992. The granting of the mining leases was validated as ‘past acts’ under the Native Title Act, the McArthur River Project Agreement Ratification Amendment Act and the Validation (Native Title) Act.

The open pit development is on the same lease as all previous operations therefore we were not required to re-open negotiations with Traditional Owners.

However, we have increased our investment in the community with a view to generating tangible, long-term benefits through the MRM Community Benefits Trust.

Through this Trust, we intend to directly support the economic and social development of the region.

Heritage protection

MRM holds Authority Certificates referenced #C2004-007 to 023 issued by the Aboriginal Area Protection Authority. These certificates include all operational areas. The AAPA has also issued authority certificates for all of the mine’s operations including the open pit development in accordance with Section 22 of the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989.

A number of Aboriginal site investigation studies have been undertaken and agreements made with the Traditional Owners for the current mining lease approvals. Site investigations were also undertaken for the areas affected by the open pit development including archaeological and ethnographic surveys of all land to be disturbed.

This work was undertaken in cooperation with Traditional Owners and other local Aboriginal elders to ensure sites of cultural significance are protected. Access by mine personnel is prohibited.

As a further safeguard in normal operations, any employee or contractor needing to undertake any ground disturbing activity must first obtain approval from both MRM’s Community Relations and Environmental Departments in order to ensure actions are checked against the AAPA authority certificates for cultural heritage sites.

Other areas of interest

Cultural Heritage Management (0.2Mb)

Media releases

Xstrata Zinc today welcomed Traditional Owners onto MRM mine site (0.1Mb)