EDO links revealed as Regis Resources rubbishes Plibersek claims that rejected gold mine is still viable

A fired-up Regis Resources chief, Jim Beyer, labelled Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s ruling to block a $1 billion gold mine as a “huge shock” and said the ripple effect will be felt beyond Australia’s mining industry. The McPhillamys gold mining development in New South Wales has been stopped from going ahead, according to the project’s proponent Regis Resources — at odds with a previous statement by Ms Plibersek. Subiaco-based Regis emerged from a trading halt on Monday to confirm the planned McPhillamys project had gone up in smoke, after Ms Plibersek on Friday morning ruled in favour of a Section 10 application under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act 1984. The notorious taxpayer funded Environmental Defenders Office provided legal assistance to the Wiradyuri Section 10 applicant, Nyree Reynolds, documents reveal. Ms Reynolds says she’s a Wiradyuri Elder, describes herself as “a bit eccentric”, and works as an Aboriginal artist. “The implications of this decision is not limited to the resource industry, but also developers of infrastructure, renewable energy, property, as well as tourism operators, farmers and owners of freehold land,” Mr Beyer said. “More generally, the decision highlights the increasing risk of investing in Australia.” The Environment Minister late on Friday said she had made a “partial declaration” that would “protect a significant Aboriginal site” from being “destroyed” to build the McPhillamys tailings dam. The West Australian first revealed the ruling in favour of the Section 10 application, hours after Regis ducked into a trading halt on Friday. The Minister downplayed the significance of her McPhillamys rejection, saying “crucially, my decision is not to stop the mine”, while suggesting the tailings dam — used to store waste from the mine — could easily be built elsewhere. But on Monday Regis rubbished that assertion via an ASX announcement. “To the contrary, this decision does impact a critical area of the project development site and means the project is not viable,” the company said. “Regis notes that during the Section 10 assessment process, it was made clear to the Minister that the project would not be viable if the Section 10 declaration was made and that, while a number of alternatives were considered early in the design process, the project does not have any currently viable alternative infrastructure locations.” Regis said that the Section 10 declaration has forced it “to revisit” the $190 million book value of McPhillamys while it considers “all legal options”. Its shares sunk 5 per cent in early trade, before clawing back some gains to finish 2.1 per cent in the red on a day when almost every other gold miner was in the green. No tangible impact Some Wiradyuri Elders have claimed McPhillamys would destroy “songlines” across the nearby Kings Plains and Belubula River. Cultural assessments showed there were no tangible artefacts at the site that would have been destroyed or disturbed. The primary Aboriginal corporation in the region — the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council — did not oppose McPhillamys, describing its stance on the development as “neutral”. Regis had received all other substantive State and Federal approvals for the project. “For us to re-evaluate alternative options (to progress McPhillamys) will require us to restart the whole approvals process, and (that) could take at least 10 years of additional work,” Mr Beyer said. “I‘m not sure what confidence this gives us, or anyone, for that matter, on how this could be considered a viable process.” Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce on Sunday said McPhillamys would have created 580 construction jobs and $200 million worth of royalties to NSW. “This is an incredibly disappointing decision that lacks reason and common sense, and sets a truly terrible precedent for investment risk in Australia,” Mr Pearce said. Shadow Environment Minister and Tasmanian Senator Jono Duniam said “the Albanese Government is the most anti-jobs, anti-development government Australia has ever had.” “In a cost of living crisis, the last thing we need is for a government to ignore clear advice and unilaterally scrap a project like this, sabotaging hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars in revenue for the State Government,” he said. “In making this decision, Ms Plibersek is continuing her outrageous approach of stalling and rejecting multiple projects that have already passed stringent state laws. “What’s the use in state laws when a Federal Government Minister can continually override them on a whim?”