Original article by Brad Thompson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 18-Jun-18

Mining companies continue to face uncertainty over the validity of their Western Australian mining leases in the wake of a High Court ruling in 2017. The state government committed to legislating to ensure that leases affected by the ruling are valid, but it has received legal advice to the effect that the federal government must first make amendments to the Native Title Act. The federal government in turn maintains that WA must first amend its Mining Act. The WA government estimates that nearly 25 per cent of mining leases that have been granted since 2006 could potentially be invalid.

CORPORATES
HIGH COURT OF AUSTRALIA, FORTESCUE METALS GROUP LIMITED – ASX FMG, ROY HILL HOLDINGS PTY LTD, WESTERN AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF MINES, INDUSTRY REGULATION AND SAFETY, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT, ASSOCIATION OF MINING AND EXPLORATION COMPANIES