A $1 billion (US$674 million) gold mining project is in doubt following last-minute intervention by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to protect the site on Indigenous grounds.
Mining company Regis Resources had planned to operate a gold mine at the McPhillamys Gold Project site near Blayney in New South Wales for about 11 years.
The project came with state and federal approval and would have created an estimated 1,000 jobs.
But on Aug. 16, Plibersek moved a section 10 application regarding part of the Belubula River, which Indigenous groups say has massive cultural significance and is still used today.
Under Section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, an Indigenous person or someone acting on their behalf can apply to protect an area from development.
The Indigenous Heritage declaration covers part of the river, which would have been within the “footprint” of a proposed storage facility for cast-off material from the proposed mine.
Regis Resources says the decision to protect the waterway at the planned open-cut mine would render the project “unviable.”
Late Wednesday, Regis reduced the project’s value by $192 million and withdrew its 1.89 million-ounce assessment of ore reserves at the site.
“Regis has commenced an assessment of the impacts on the economic value of our business,” CEO Jim Beyer said in a statement to the stock exchange.
“The section 10 order declaration has resulted in the loss of planned access ... this has made the project in its current form unviable.”
The Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West (WTOCWAC) Aboriginal Corporation supported Plibersek’s move, but in a response to The Epoch Times, a spokesperson said the group would not comment.
The section 10 application was made on behalf of a group of Wiradjuri elders, citing cultural significance of the Belubula headwaters and the Belubula River.
Regis will consider legal options to fight the Section 10 application, saying that developing alternatives to the proposed waste storage facility could take five to 10 years without approval.
In the meantime, the company says it’s disappointed that the flow-on effects of the decision will result in job losses in Blayney as well as royalties and tax revenue losses.
NSW Natural Resources Minister Courtney Houssos said this week the mine was strategically important to the state.
“Protecting heritage and progressing key mining projects should not be a zero-sum proposition,” she said.
Regis is due to report its results for the 2023/24 financial year on Aug. 22.
