Sheffield Resources loses landmark native title case

Written on the 28 December 2017

A native title law requirement that parties operate in "good faith" at all times during development negotiations has for the first time been tested in court, with the result laying the ground for clearer rules of engagement.

A group of traditional owners had lodged the appeal against mineral sands miner Sheffield Resources over the planned Thunderbird mine at Mount Jowlaenga on Western Australia's Dampier Peninsula.

At the heart of the case was Sheffield's claim that once a statutory six-month period had elapsed, it was no longer required to negotiate with the applicants in good faith in this instance, the claimants said, going behind their lawyers' backs with an offer of settlement that their lawyers had previously rejected.

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Source: The Australian