Forrests shut WA cattle station gates to sand miner

Billionaires Andrew and Nicola Forrest have struck another blow against a sand mining company on their historic family cattle station in Western Australia, with the proponent no longer able to access one of its mine sites on the property.

Onslow Resources has forfeited a miscellaneous licence covering a 300-metre access track traversing Minderoo Station in WA’s North West and linking a 61-hectare sand mining operation in the bed of the Ashburton River – which flows seasonally through the pastoral property – to a public road.

Nicola and Andrew Forrest.

The WA Warden’s Court – the arbiter of disputes over mining and exploration leases – determined the forfeiture last month after appeals by Forrest and Forrest Pty Ltd and the state’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety that there had been breaches of the licence’s conditions.

Warden John O’Sullivan decided it was valid for Onslow Resources to lose the licence because it had lodged an annual environment report two months late and failed to pay a $30,000 bond until several months after a deadline imposed by the department.

The decision was the latest in a series of long-running legal battles involving exploration and mining tenements on the 230,000-hectare station, fought over by the Forrests and the companies Onslow Resources, Yarri Mining Pty Ltd and Quarry Park Pty Ltd which are connected to businessman Anthony Warren Slater.

The Forrests have railed against sand mining proposals in the Ashburton River in the past because of concerns there would be damage to pastoral and environmental values.

Mining, exploration and miscellaneous holdings for Yarri Mining and Onslow Resources on Minderoo Station.Credit: Landtracker

There have been several court cases relating to the access of the mining lease M08/458, a handful of kilometres from the Minderoo homestead, before last month’s decision on the road licence.

Onslow Resources previously lost a licence over the access track to the site seven years ago after stockpiling materials from one of its sand mining leases next to the road, which was contrary to agreed-upon conditions.

An attempt by the miner to get a new licence for the road, on the basis non-compliance issues had been rectified, was knocked back by the Warden’s Court in 2015 but then overturned by Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Johnston in 2017.

The minister’s decision was unsuccessfully challenged by Forrest and Forrest in the WA Court of Appeal three years ago, but now the road licence has been lost anyway because Onslow Resources took too long to meet its conditions.

Warden O’Sullivan said in his decision Onslow Resources had failed to take its obligations seriously.

“That Onslow could continue to behave in this way, given not only its history but its representations to the minister and the minister’s apparent faith in those representations, is hard to fathom,” he said.

“Were I to allow Onslow to continue to retain L08/143 [the road licence] after all that has happened it would undermine the efficacy of the legislative regime and in particular the important role that conditions play in promoting the objects of the Mining Act not to mention the deterrent threat that forfeiture represents should there be non-compliance.”

Tenement wars

Dr Forrest’s father Don sold the station – first taken up by family ancestors John and Alexander in 1878 alongside Septimus Burt – in 1999.

The Forrests bought back Minderoo Station, where Dr Forrest grew up, in 2009 for $12 million and have fought legal battles against not only the sand miners but also uranium explorer Cauldron Energy.

Explorers have been counteracted to a degree by companies owned by the Forrests, such as Wyloo Metals and FMG Resources, which have existing or pending exploration leases across much of Minderoo and other stations owned by the family that effectively lock out other miners.

The Forrests won a High Court case in 2017 against Yarri Mining and Onslow Resources which turned the tenement system on its head when some of the companies’ mining licences were voided because mineralisation reports had not been submitted at the same time as the licence applications.

The decision put in doubt the validity of other mining operations around the state but the WA government has yet to pass any legislative measures to address the issue.

A bill to address the situation was introduced in 2018 but not progressed as the state government believed changes were needed in the federal government’s Native Title Act to enable it.

Mr Johnston said the state was continuing to consider options in response to the High Court decision.

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