Queensland-based Indigenous community calls for protection of sacred site, which has cultural ties to the NT, from mining activity

INDIGNEOUS Elders have warned of a potential repeat of the Juukan Gorge disaster unless a mining company commits to not disturbing an ancient and sacred Indigenous site in QLD which has ties to the NT.

INDIGENOUS Elders of a sacred Indigenous site in Queensland that has long-running cultural connections that extend to the Northern Territory are calling for the protection of the site which has been flagged for mining activity.

The Waanyi Council of Elders has warned of a potential repeat of the Juukan Gorge disaster unless mining company New Century Resources Limited commits to not disturbing an ancient and sacred Indigenous site in the Gulf area of Queensland.

Magazine Hill – located at the Century Mine site 300km from Mount Isa – is a significant Men’s Business ground which contains ancient artefacts, and has a cultural connection that extends to the Northern Territory and which can be traced back thousands of years.

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Prior to the commencement of mining operations in the region more than 20 years ago, the Waanyi Elders gave strict instructions that Magazine Hill was to be preserved and protected.

The original owners of the Century Site developed a management protection plan to ensure the site would never be developed, and built a 50m buffer zone around Magazine Hill.

However, following the mine closure in 2015, New Century Resources Limited took over the mine for rehabilitation and is understood to have signed an agreement with the Waanyi Prescribed Body Corporate (Waanyi PBC) to recommence mining activity, which the Waanyi Council of Elders claims is not, and has never been, agreed by the Waanyi people.

Waanyi Elder Clarence Walden said the PBC is not a party to the Gulf Communities Agreement and doesn’t have the authority to overrule a commitment by the then mine and State of Queensland to the Waanyi people.

“We’re furious that the Waanyi PBC – a group that in our view does not represent the views of the broader Waanyi community nor the Waanyi Council of Elders – can make agreements with any mining company on our behalf, and is making deals concerning the future of Magazine Hill without our consent,” he said.

“We cannot risk the possibility of another mining company following in the footsteps of Rio Tinto and destroying another indigenous sacred site.”

“We have expressed our concerns in written correspondence to the Regulator of Indigenous

Corporations (ORIC) about the Waanyi PBC but so far to no avail.”

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