A group of Northern Territory native title holders has won a landmark High Court battle blocking the expansion of an open cut mine on one of the world's largest zinc and lead deposits, about 900 kilometres southeast of Darwin. The McArthur River Mine has faced fierce opposition from traditional owners over the mine's effects on native title rights. But this decision is being seen as setting an important precedent that will be able to be applied by native title holders in future cases.
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00:00 This has been a legal battle spanning a decade, dating back to 2013, and it's come with many
00:08 losses for native title holders from the MacArthur River region in the Northern Territory.
00:14 But yesterday, they had a major win in the highest court of Australia.
00:19 The high court ruled in favour of native title holders who had been battling for years to
00:24 prevent the MacArthur River mine from expanding.
00:27 It was a case brought by the Northern Land Council on behalf of David Harvey, Thomas
00:32 Simon and Mr Friday, who sadly passed away before he was able to hear the final decision.
00:38 Basically, in 2013, Mount Isa Mines, a subsidiary of mining giant Glencore, which operates the
00:44 MacArthur River mine, applied for a mineral lease to construct a new dredge dumping area
00:50 on land it owns near its port, which is called the Bingbong Loading Facility.
00:55 To get the lead and zinc deposits from the mine and onto the larger export ships, big
01:00 barge vessels have to carry the cargo across a shallow navigation channel, which is regularly
01:06 dredged of mud and silt.
01:09 The current dumping spot is at capacity, so a new one is necessary.
01:14 But native title owners had argued that the new dumping area would affect their native
01:19 title rights.
01:20 Yesterday, the High Court agreed with that argument, striking out an earlier federal
01:25 court ruling and ordering the Northern Territory Government to refuse the lease.
01:30 It's a decision that the Northern Land Council's chief executive, Joe Muntjard, says has set
01:36 an important precedent for future native title cases.
01:39 Well, the High Court decision really clears the air in terms of understanding native title
01:44 holders do have rights.
01:47 It's now established in law and MRM needs to understand that.
01:53 But we come with an open heart and open mind and we want to engage in a positive way with
01:59 MRM.
02:00 A new dumping area will be essential for MacArthur River Mine going forward, and both the NT
02:06 government and the operator of the mine say they will be engaging in discussions with
02:10 native title holders to come to a resolution.
02:14 But the NLC says it hopes that this High Court decision will prompt the mining company to
02:19 reconsider its approach to applying for a new lease.
02:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]