NLC negotiates over Top End development

The Top End has inched closer to the much-heralded new era of major development, with two mine expansion plans announced and the passage of Timor Sea Treaty legislation through Federal Parliament set to underpin the Bayu-Undan gas project.

While all the projects have the potential to deliver significant benefits for Aboriginal people, much hard work and negotiation lies ahead.

Mining company MIM was first off the rank, announcing on 11 February that it would undertake a feasibility study into expanding its McArthur River zinc-lead mine near Borroloola.

An environmental impact study of the expansion has been announced. The NLC has told the Government and MIM that impacts on people, culture and sacred sites must be taken into consideration.

The NLC has written to MIM requesting detailed information about the McArthur River expansion plan but is yet to receive an answer.

According to material so far made public it appears MIM is seeking to reactivate its original mining model for McArthur River, which envisioned an open-cut mine and the diversion of the river itself.

The NLC will commence consultations with traditional owners as soon as information is available.

Meanwhile, Alcan has unveiled a proposed expansion of its bauxite mine and alumina refinery on the Gove Peninsula near Nhulunbuy.

The project, which could cost up to $1.5 billion, will almost double the alumina production capacity of Alcan Gove from 2 million tonnes to 3.5 million tonnes a year.

NLC Chief Executive Norman Fry said that the proposed expansion of Alcan Gove's operations promised to provide new opportunities for traditional Aboriginal land owners as well as other Aboriginal stakeholders in the Gove region.

It is important to remember that the original struggle by Aboriginal landowners against the mine's development during the 1960s and early 1970s led directly to the Aboriginal Land Rights (NT) Act 1976.

It remains a fact that there has never been a formal agreement between the Gove mine's operators and the Aboriginal people on whose land the mine was built more than 30 years ago.

I therefore welcome Alcan's promise to consult with traditional landowners and other Aboriginal stakeholders during the feasibility study process, with the understanding that this consultation will lead to the implementation of a formal agreement ahead of any mine expansion.

NLC Chief Executive, Norman Fry

Finally, with the passage of the Timor Sea Treaty through Parliament on 5 March, the stalled multi-billion dollar Bayu-Undan gas project finally looks as if it will go ahead.

Located in the Timor Sea zone of Co-operation and managed by United States-based oil giant ConocoPhillips, Bayu-Undan contains a massive resource of gas and condensate that will be piped to Darwin and processed at the yet-to-be-built Wickham Point LNG (liquefied natural gas) plant in Darwin.

It is estimated that it will cost more than $1 billion to build the pipeline to Darwin with a further $1.8 billion spent on the gas plant and associated developments.

More than 1,300 people would be employed during the construction phase.

The NLC's Employment and Training Unit and partner the Territory Construction Association are already in discussions with the developers of Wickham Point about Aboriginal employment, and it is hoped that at least 200 positions will be made available to Aboriginal people during the construction phase.