ATNS - Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements project

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Boonthamurra Opal Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)
Date:	19 January 2004
Sub Category:	Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) (Native Title Act)
Place:	North-west of Cunnamulla
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State/Country:	Queensland, Australia
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	The area of the ILUA lies between Windorah and Quilpie, about 240 kms north-west of Cunnamulla in south-west Queensland. The ILUA is within the Barcoo and Quilpie Shire Councils local government areas.
Legal Status:	Registered with the National Native Title Tribunal
Legal Reference:	National Native Title Tribunal File No: QI2003/063
Subject Matter:	Mining and Minerals \| Native Title \| Land Use \| Future Act
Summary Information:
The Boonthamurra Opal Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) facilitates the grant of mining tenements to opal miners in the area of the ILUA. Rather than going through the right to negotiate provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth), mining tenements will be granted to opal miners who agree to a set of conditions specified in the ILUA. As part of the agreement: - the mining tenement must have 'as its principle purpose the discovery, evaluation or mining of opal'; - miners must 'not carry out Opal Operations where more than 10 people are engaged on the Tenement Area at any one time, without the consent of the Native Title Parties'; - 'No more than 10 hectares of the Tenement Area may be significantly disturbed at any one time by Opal Operations [�] (excluding land which was significantly disturbed but has been rehabilitated by the Opal Miner)'; and - in the case where Exploration Permit type tenements are granted, the area can 'not exceed 100 sub-blocks' in size. The ILUA also validates any previous grants of these tenements in the area, which may have been done invalidly.