"NT miners fined for desecrating Aboriginal site", 29 August 2013

...In a landmark case, a mining company has been fined for desecrating an Aboriginal sacred site in the Northern Territory. The Darwin Magistrates Court ruled that OM Manganese damaged the site known in English as Two Women Sitting Down, at Bootu Creek, north of Tennant Creek. The company was fined $150,000 – the biggest-ever penalty levied under the Northern Territory Sacred Sites Act...

The destruction of the site, back in 2011, was due to drill and blast mining nearby by OM Manganese, the subsidiary of Singapore-based OM Holdings Ltd, which was mining for the rich manganese ore found in the area.The company had received permission to mine in the area from the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority of the Northern Territory, as long as the sacred site was not harmed.

In March that year, a prominent stone feature of the site called the Horses head was showing damage, but it was unknown then whether it was related to the blasting going on nearby. In July, cracking appeared, then a large part of the site fell into the open cut pit. Mining halted immediately but the damage was done.

OM Holdings CEO Peter Toth refutes claims that the damage was a result of cost-cutting. However, he says he recognises that major mistakes were made at the time.

“We had undertaken an assessment of how to mine that area in close proximity to the sacred site. Now we’ve made two mistakes in the process. We’ve under-estimated the geological conditions of the area and also made mistakes in terms of the pit design and the slope geometry and the blasting procedure and these two things have effectively resulted in the damage.”

The damage was brought to the attention of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, sparking off two year legal proceedings. Three counts were brought against OM Manganese: The first charge of desecration to the stone pillar, the second of damage to the sacred site due to the collapse. The third charge was of desecration of the sacred site due to the company continuing to mine after the initial collapse.

The company has been found guilty of the first two charges and fined over $150,000.

CEO of the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, Dr Ben Scambary, says it is a landmark case. “It’s landmark because desecration has been contested and won in Australia. It’s also the first time that desecration has been contested and won under the NT Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act. It also represents the biggest fine ever levied under the Northern Territory Sacred Sites Act.”...