Australian Firm to Pay Millions Over Stolen Indigenous Mining Land

(MENAFN) A court on Tuesday ordered Australian mining giant Fortescue Metals Group to pay 150 million Australian dollars ($108 million) to the Indigenous Yindjibarndi people in compensation for decades of unauthorized iron ore extraction on their ancestral land — a ruling that sets a historic legal precedent while drawing sharp criticism from community leaders.

The settlement, confirmed by an Australian broadcasting agency, represents the largest native title payout in Australian history, drawing the curtain on a legal battle that has consumed nearly two decades.

Yet for many within the Yindjibarndi community, the verdict rings hollow. Elders have openly condemned the figure, with one describing the payout as "peanuts" compared with the billions generated by the company.

The gap between what was sought and what was awarded is stark. The Yindjibarndi people had originally pursued 1.8 billion Australian dollars to account for cultural and economic losses, as well as damage to sacred sites — more than ten times the sum the court ultimately approved.

At the heart of the dispute lies a fundamental breach: the mines were developed without the consent of traditional landowners and have generated tens of billions of dollars in revenue since production began in 2013, with operations expected to continue into the mid-2040s.

The Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation was formally recognized in 2017 as the exclusive native title holder over a sprawling 2,700-square-kilometre territory in Western Australia — recognition that came years after the contested mining had already begun.

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