ATNS - Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements project

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Birrindudu Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)
Date:	30 September 2005
Sub Category:	Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) (Native Title Act)
Place:	South-west of Timber Creek
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State/Country:	Northern Territory, Australia
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	The area covered by the ILUA is located 265 kilometres south-west of Timber Creek in the central west of the Northern Territory. The extract of the ILUA from the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements describes the area covered by the agreement as follows: '"Area" means the Area covered by the Exploration Licence at the time of the making of this Agreement [25 January]... . "Exploration Licence" means Substitute Exploration Licence Number 23367 and Exploration Licences Numbered 9592, 22152 and 22376 or any numbers substituted therefore or any Exploration Retention Licence to be granted by the Northern Territory Mining Minister in response to the applications for each licence which licences will authorise the licencees to carry out Exploration on the land in the Northern Territory...for the term of this Agreement under Article 3.2.' The ILUA area falls within the Garrak-Jarru Regional Council ATSIC region.
Legal Status:	Registered with the National Native Title Tribunal
Legal Reference:	National Native Title Tribunal No.:DI2005/001.
Subject Matter:	Compensation \| Cultural Heritage \| Environmental Heritage \| Exploration \| Land Use \| Mining and Minerals \| Native Title
Summary Information:
The Birrindudu Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) was signed by the Central Land Council and Otter Gold Pty Ltd (a subsidiary of Newmont Australia). The ILUA is a mining and exploration agreement covering an area of 2054 square kilometres in the central west of the Northern Territory. It is the 200th ILUA to be registered with the National Native Title Tribunal.
Detailed Information:
Under the ILUA, the parties consent to the granting of exploration licenses and mineral leases according to the terms of the ILUA. Such terms include compliance by the license or leaseholders with the terms and conditions of their grant, consent to the location and development of water resources necessary for the treatment of any ore recovered from any granted mining lease, and the installation, operation and maintenance of equipment required for that purpose. The parties also agree to the construction, operation, repair and maintenance of a pipeline and associated equipment as well as access to the area for the exploration company. In addition, the parties consent to the grant of an exploration retention license in the event that such a grant is a future act to which Division 3 of Part 2 of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) (NTA) applies. The parties thereby agree that the right to negotiate provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) do not apply, as the alternative consultation provisions are to be followed instead. Without this agreement, the grant would be invalid and the right to negotiate provisions of the Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) would apply. Under this Act any activity, such as a grant of land, that may affect native title rights is defined as a 'future act' and must comply with the future act provisions of the Act in order to be valid. The ILUA also sets out the parties' agreement with respect to: - procedures to minimise the environmental impact of mining and exploration, and to promote the rehabilitation of areas subjected to such activities; - the protection of native title rights and interests including the protection of sacred sites; - the relationship between native title rights and interests and other interests in relation to the area; and - compensation for future acts. Finally, the parties acknowledge and agree that any future acts that may have occurred prior to the registration of the ILUA carried out in accordance with the agreement are valid to the extent that they affect native title in the area covered by the agreement.