Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has won a High Court bid to keep sand miners off his family pastoral property in the Pilbara region of Western Australia in a case that may have implications for other mining licences across the State.
Mr Forrest took on the West Australian mining warden after mining licences were granted on land inside Minderoo Station.
The licences were granted to junior mining companies Yarri Mining and Onslow Resources, both of which planned to mine for mineral sands in the Ashburton River bed on Mr Forrest's property.
The companies had contracts with concreter Boral to supply the sands for use in the construction phase of Chevron's $30 billion Wheatstone LNG project near Onslow.
At the heart of the case was whether the licences were invalid because the key reports from the miners were not lodged at the time of the applications.
Mr Forrest appealed to first to the WA Supreme Court and then to the Court of Appeal, both of which ruled against him.
But today the High Court found the reports, including a mineralisation report, were required to be filed at the time of lodgement.
Mining leases in doubt
Tenement law expert Marshall McKenna said it had been standard procedure for the Department of Mines to allow supporting documents to be filed after a mining lease application was filed, and the High Court's ruling may invalidate a number of leases.
"The High Court's decision means that each of these applications that proceeded to grant were granted in error and are invalid," he said.
This could affect both mining leases and operating mines, he said.
"Whilst it would be expected that the Minister would refuse any opportunistic third-party tenement applications over, say, an operating mine, there is no guarantee that would be the case," he said.
A Department of Mines spokesman said the department was considering the implications of the court's decision, but could not provide details on how many leases might be affected.
Mines Minister Bill Johnston also could not provide comment.
Uranium bid allowed
In a separate court decision also handed down today, Mr Forrest failed in an attempt to halt applications for uranium exploration on Minderoo.
Mr Forrest had challenged a decision by Mr Johnston to allow the company, Cauldron Energy, to apply for three exploration licences in the area.
In a unanimous decision, WA's Court of Appeal dismissed Mr Forrest's arguments, also noting that the Minister had not yet decided whether to grant or refuse Cauldron's applications.
Minderoo Station, which Mr Forrest bought for $12 million in 2009, covers 1.8 million acres near the town of Onslow.
Mr Forrest is the founder and chairman of Fortescue Metals Group.
