Premier Attempts to Salvage Billion-Dollar Gold Mine Shuttered Due to Indigenous Heritage

NSW Premier Chris Minns speaks to the media during a press conference at NSW State Parliament, Sydney, Australia, on June 4, 2021. AAP Image/Dean Lewins

Just over a week after federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek put a stop to a $1 billion (US$674 million) gold mine, New South Wales (NSW) Premier Chris Minns has promised to expedite any alternative plans to bring it to fruition.

Mining company Regis Resources was aiming to operate a gold mine at the McPhillamys Gold Project site near Blayney in NSW, but the plan came to a halt when Plibersek actioned section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.

The Act allows an Indigenous person, or someone acting on their behalf, to halt a development.

In the case of the planned gold mine, Indigenous groups opposed the use of part of the Belubula River for a tailings dam, citing historic and cultural significance.

Tailings dams are generally earth-filled embankment dams used to store mining by-products.

The project had previously been approved at both a state and federal level, with an estimated 1,000 jobs likely to be created.

But Plibersek’s Aug. 16 move to action section 10 left Regis Resources concerned about the future viability of the project.

CEO Jim Beyer issued a statement expressing concerns that any alternative plans could take years, and may not necessarily be approved by the government.

In response to the saga, Premier Minns moved to mitigate the impact of Plibersek’s move by issuing an assurance to Regis Resources that any additional approvals would be dealt with promptly.

“It’s not necessarily just about this mine as well, we need billions of dollars’ worth of investment from mining companies for critical minerals across NSW,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Aug. 27.

“Not just for gold, but a whole range of components for renewable energy are in the ground in NSW, potentially worth billions, and there’s tens of thousands of jobs there.”

Minns said any approved new plan would be ticked off in good time.

“We are in discussions with the mine proponent and we’ve said very specifically that we don’t want them to start from the beginning, we don’t want them to go all the way back to 2019,” he said.

Minns said the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council, the elected body for Indigenous leaders in the area, had no issue with the mine.

The NSW premier is from the right faction of the Labor Party, while Plibersek is from the left.

Meanwhile, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was only the tailings dam that had been approved and that he, like Minns, wanted the mine to go ahead.