Roy Hill has escalated a mining lease dispute to the Supreme Court of Western Australia, over tenements in the Pilbara.
Roy Hill has escalated a mining lease dispute to the Supreme Court of Western Australia, over tenements in the Pilbara.
In a writ obtained by Business News, Roy Hill Iron Ore Pty Ltd named Mines and Petroleum Minister David Michael as the defendant claiming the latter should have validated two mining leases over its operations in the Shire of East Pilbara.
Gina Rinehart’s Roy Hill claimed that the two mining leases could not be impeached or annulled even if there were irregularities in the applications.
This is despite Roy Hill admitting, in the writ, that it might not have complied with a section of the Mining Act when it applied for the leases.
The two mining leases over Roy Hill’s iron ore mine, about 110 kilometres north of Newman, were granted in 2010.
In the writ, Roy Hill said it sought confirmation of the validity of the mining leases in mid-May but received no response from Mr Michael or the Department of Energy, Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety as of June 5 when the writ was lodged.
Roy Hill has relied on s116(2) of the Mining Act, which said a mining tenement granted or renewed under the legislation shall not be impeached because of informality or irregularity in the applicant except in the case of fraud.
“Given that this matter is subject to current Supreme Court proceedings, it would not be appropriate for the minister to comment,” a spokesperson for Mr Michael told Business News.
The writ was lodged before the state government announced it has drafted amendments to the Mining Act to offer security of tenure over exploration tenements.
Mr Michael introduced the changes yesterday, announcing the proposed amendments would amend the Act and addressed common pitfalls in the tapplication process.
Mining activities for Roy Hill iron ore mine were undertaken primarily within the mining tenements covered by the two leases in dispute.
