ATNS - Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements project

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RTIO and Yinhawangka People Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)
Date:	31 January 2013
Sub Category:	Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) (Native Title Act)
Place:	In the vicinity of Paraburdoo
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State/Country:	Western Australia, Australia
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	The Agreement Area is described in Schedule 1 and means the land and waters within the external boundaries of the two claimant applications. The area is approximately 10,140 square kilometres and is located north of the Ashburton River and south of Tom Price in the vicinity of Paraburdoo in the Pilbara Region of Western Australia. The local government region is the Shires of Ashburton, East Pilbara and Meekatharra.
Legal Status:	Registered with the National Native Title Tribunal on the Register of Indigenous Land Use Agreements on 5 July 2013.
Legal Reference:	National Native Title Tribunal File No.: WI2013/001
Alternative Names:	Rio Tinto Iron Ore and Yinhawangka People Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)
Subject Matter:	Future Act \| Mining and Minerals
URL:	http://www.nntt.gov.au/searchRegApps/NativeTitleRegisters/Pages/ILUA_details.aspx?NNTT_Fileno=WI2013/001
Summary Information:
The RTIO and Yinhawangka People Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) is an Area Agreement between: - Hamersley Iron Pty Limited (applicant); and - Robe River Mining Co Pty Ltd on its own behalf as a venturer and as a manager for and on behalf of:(a) Robe River Ming Co Pty Ltd ; (b) Mitsui Iron Ore Development Pty Ltd; (c) Cape Lambert Iron Associates, a business carried on under that name by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Australia Pty Limited, Nippon Steel & Sumikin Resources Australia Pty Ltd and Mitsui Iron Ore Development Pty Ltd; (d) Pannawonica Iron Associates, a business carried on under that name by Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Australia Pty Limited and Nippon Steel & Sumikin Resources Australia Pty Ltd; (e) North Mining Limited, as participants of the Robe River Iron Associates Joint Venture; - Hamersley HMS Pty Ltd as manager for and on behalf of: (a) Hope Downs Iron Ore Pty Ltd; and (b) Hamersley WA Pty Ltd, as participants of the Hope Downs Joint Venture; - Ranges Management Company Pty Ltd as manager for and on behalf of:(a) Ranges Mining Pty Ltd; (b) Baosteel Australia Mining Company Pty Ltd, as participants of the BaoHI Ranges Joint; and - Churchill Jones, Nicholas Cook, David Cox, Adrian Condon, Stuart Ingie, AF (name withheld for cultural reasons) and Roy Tommy on their own behalf and on behalf of the Yinhawangka People. The purpose of this Area Agreement is to authorise the undertaking of the existing mining operations on the land covered by the ILUA as well as future acts.
Detailed Information:
Details of the agreement Commencement The start date of the Agreement is 31 January 2013. The ILUA was registered with the National Native Title Tribunal on 5 July 2013. No end date is specified but the agreement is said to terminate upon the termination of the Participation Agreement in accordance with its provisions. Terms of the agreement The Agreement provides for the parties' consent to: - existing operations that include all of Rio Tinto's existing titles; and - where there is an agreed purpose, the doing of future acts, the grant or modification of every approval and interest, and the modification of every Rio Tinto existing title in connection with this purpose. Clause 7.5 of the Extract defines an 'agreed purpose' as: - the existing operations; - modification of operations that are part of Rio Tinto's Pilbara Iron Ore business; - the planning, development, operation and expansion, further expansion and decommissioning of any aspect of Rio Tinto's Pilbara iron ore business; - new power, water, rail and road infrastructure and associated infrastructure and works within the ILUA area; - iron ore processing infrastructure and works; - construction camps; and - town infrastructure and accommodation infrastructure within the ILUA area. Native Title Provisions Right to negotiate provisions do not apply The parties 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 have been 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. Future Acts The agreed acts include future acts. The Extract notes that the parties' consent to the project and the related agreed acts includes statements of the kind mentioned in s 24EB(1). Background to the Agreement: Native Title in the ILUA Area The Yinhawangka People are the native title claimants and traditional custodians of approximately one million hectares of land and waters in the central Pilbara, including the mining town of Paraburdoo. The area agreement is similar to a series of five agreements reached in the Pilbara by Traditional Owners and Rio Tinto in 2011. The Yinhawangka People lodged the claimant applications in the Federal Court (Federal Court file no: WAD340/10, Tribunal file no: WC10/16; and Federal Court file no: WAD216/10, Tribunal file no: WC10/11). These two applications were accepted for registration on 10 December 2010 and 17 September 2010 respectively. Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) is the native title representative body for native title claims in the Pilbara, Murchison and Gascoyne areas of Western Australia.