A long-running claim that a baby girl suffered brain damage as a result of lead emissions from Glencore’s Mount Isa smelter in Queensland will go to trial, in what looms as a landmark test of the Swiss miner’s ability to continue running the smelter in the middle of a city.

The multi-million dollar compensation claim brought by Sharnelle Seeto as legal guardian for her daughter Bethany Sanders is scheduled for trial in the Brisbane Supreme Court on May 9 after mediation talks with Glencore failed to resolve the matter.