A mining company is vowing to push ahead with plans for a New South Wales gold mine, despite Commonwealth intervention. The environment minister recently granted a First Nations protection order over part of the site near Blayney in the central west. The decision has split state and federal Labor party and left the mines owners scrambling to find a way forward.
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00:00These rolling green hills near Blaney in the state's central west have become the battleground
00:07for a stoush between state and federal labour.
00:11At the centre is a mining company whose plans to dig for gold are now on hold.
00:16We're not exactly sure in what direction we can take, but we will look at it because it's
00:22a project that we think is worth pursuing.
00:24The project stalled when the Federal Environment Minister, Tanya Plibersek, granted an Aboriginal
00:28protection order over the proposed site of a waste storage.
00:33The tailings dam was to be built on the headwaters of the nearby Bulubula River.
00:38If we want to protect cultural heritage, decisions like this to protect important places have
00:45to be made.
00:47The mine's owner says the project is now unviable.
00:51That's not actually the case.
00:53This is a 2,500 hectare site and I've protected 400 hectares of that.
00:59The company disagrees, saying other parts of the mine site are either not suitable for
01:04a tailings dam or have already been excluded.
01:08The Premier, Chris Minns, says he's disappointed but has stopped short of offering to fast-track
01:13any revised development application.
01:16In Blaney, residents are bemused.
01:19The town needs it.
01:21If you're not going ahead, you're going backwards.
01:25I just think they should have looked into something as simple as Aboriginal artefacts
01:30a long time ago.
01:31Regis Resources says it's speaking to the Federal Environment Department and is considering
01:36its legal options.