A decision by the Federal Government is pending on the future of mine expansions in the Hunter Valley.
A claim under Section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islander Heritage Protection Act on 156 square kilometres of land between Singleton and Muswellbrook was lodged on behalf of the Wonnarua people back in 2020.
The same group had success last year at the Independent Planning Commission in protecting the Ravens, and its got mining giant Glencore spooked about the potential impact of the impending ruling — which could also affect Yancoal and Bloomfield.
Glencore gave a briefing to staff this week, where it said some 3,000 jobs could come under threat.
In a statement, the mining giant said it believes there is no credible basis for making the declaration.
“There are material flaws in the Government Reporter’s assessment process and report on the application.
“If the Federal Government makes a declaration over the “Specified Area” as per the Reporter’s Assessment Report, it could unreasonably impact parts of our mining operations in that area despite these operations and their associated infrastructure having been in place for many years.
“We are concerned about the ATSIHPA process as the Federal Government’s final decision on the Section 10 could have an adverse impact on some of our operations and flow on impacts to our workers, suppliers, and the community,” Glencore said.
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