Glencore's McArthur River zinc mine expansion to affect Aboriginal sites

The Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority, or AAPA, in the Northern Territory of Australia raised concerns about Glencore PLC's intention to expand its McArthur River zinc-lead mine, saying that the planned expansion puts a number of Aboriginal sites at risk, Reuters reported March 2.

The areas that would be affected include a site related to creation stories and a quarry where stone tools were made, AAPA CEO Benedict Scambary said.

"The scale of the mine expansion raises some quite serious questions about the maintenance and protection of sacred sites on that lease and also access to those places for custodians into the future," the newswire quoted Scambary as saying.

In 2020, the state's mining minister approved Glencore's application for mine expansion despite objection from AAPA. The approval would allow the mining major to double the size of the mine and extend its life to 2048.

Glencore also applied to increase the height of the mine's waste dump to 140 meters from 80 meters, with approval pending from the Northern Territory mining minister.

During a March 2 parliamentary inquiry into Rio Tinto's blasting of the Juukan Gorge cave, Scambary said that Glencore did not have proper authority from appropriate elders to expand the waste dump.

Glencore's Australian zinc assets, McArthur River mine and Mount Isa in Queensland produced a total of 597,600 tonnes of zinc in concentrate and 213,300 tonnes of lead in concentrate in 2019, according to Glencore's annual report.

Meanwhile, Glencore said that it would seek permission from AAPA for any future mining plans that require it.

"We understand our obligation to protect sacred sites on our mining lease and take this obligation very seriously," Glencore said.