Divisions in gulf Indigenous community over Century Mine expansion plans

Schisms in the Gulf of Carpentaria Indigenous community are surfacing as plans for New Century Zinc to expand mining in the Gulf of Carpentaria are put under the microscope. The Juukan Gorge inquiry yesterday (Thu 8 Jul) heard from Waanyi traditional owner group representatives. New Century Resources is investigating the potential mining of the South Block resource immediately adjacent to Magazine Hill on the minesite between Burketown and Camooweal. “We will be interested to hear about the decision-making process that led to the agreement to the Cultural Heritage Management Plan for Magazine Hill,’ said committee chair Warren Entsch. “The Waanyi Native Title Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC, in their submission, conveyed that the Waanyi People’s final decision to consent to the excavation of Magazine Hill was taken with considerable sadness, but it was an informed decision.” It’s the second time the inquiry has sat to hear concerns about New Century Zinc’s expansion plans. What the inquiry heard in May The committee also held a public hearing in Mount Isa on May 4, where regional elders raised concerns about the fate of the significant rock shelter. The Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia heard that the elders felt ignored and shut out by ORIC (the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations) and the Waanyi Prescribed Body Corporate (PBC), which has agreements with miner New Century Resources. Waanyi descendant and Alyawarr man Glen Willetts said in May that the site’s Gulf Communities Agreement signed almost 30 years ago noted that Magazine Hill would be preserved and protected from mining operations, regardless of change of owners. Not only was it determined to be in the best interest of the local Waanyi people to preserve Magazine Hill, but the place was a storyline that connected into the Central Desert, he said. Mr Willetts, associated with the Waanyi Advancement company, said New Century was talking to the Waanyi PBC – not the native title groups that were parties to the Gulf Communities Agreement. In a written submission to the inquiry, New Century Resources said it had negotiated with the statutory representative of the determined native title holders for the country around Magazine Hill, Waanyi PBC, between September 2017 and May 2018 to seek consent to proceed to mine in the vicinity of the Magazine Hill Aboriginal site. The company said it was unlikely that every member of a native title holding community would endorse a particular heritage outcome. The ongoing inquiry was sparked by miner Rio Tinto’s destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. A program for the public hearing is available on the Committee’s website. The committee tabled an interim report on the matter in December 2020, making recommendations focusing on improving relations between industry and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and improving the legislative framework protecting Indigenous heritage.

Divisions in gulf Indigenous community over Century Mine expansion plans

Industry Queensland

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