Fortescue Metals and PKKP Aboriginal Corporation have signed a memorandum of understanding they hope will lead to join management of current and future projects on Puutu Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura lands.
The PKKP holds native title over nearly 11,000sqm of sparsely populated land west of Karijini National Park, including FMG's Eliwana mine in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
The corporation was highly critical of Rio Tinto after the miner destroyed 46,000-year-old heritage-listed rock shelters at Juukan Gorge in May 2020, against the wishes of the PKKP people, who were unaware of the company's intentions until it was too late.
The Juukan disaster was condemned globally and led to a federal parliamentary inquiry and resignation of senior Rio Tinto executives, and eventually led the WA government to overhaul its Aboriginal cultural heritage laws.
The new Act came into effect in WA on July 1 and, among the changes, was the removal of a clause that allowed destruction of the significant site with ministerial approval.
PKKP chairman Terry Drage was confident co-management of mines was the strongest mechanism to protect the rights, interests, culture and tradition of the PKKP peoples when dealing with development on its country.
He said the joint management model, which was still being negotiated, would ensure respect for Traditional Owners through all stages of projects and clearly identify the expectations and responsibilities for both Fortescue and the corporation, as the representative body of Traditional Owners.
"We understand the importance of certainty of mining outcomes for Fortescue, equally for the PKKP, we need certainty of protection for our cultural heritage, our strong and active role in ensuring that occurs, plus guaranteed access to our country," Mr Drage said.
Fortescue Metals chief executive officer Fiona Hick said that, once finalised, the new co-management agreement would detail a new Indigenous land use pact between Fortescue and the corporation.
"This agreement paves the way for developing a collaborative framework that will shape a new direction for Fortescue and PKKP to share cultural knowledge and guide the growth of Fortescue's operations on their country," Ms Hick said.
The corporation's commercial arm, PKKP Enterprises, was in June last year awarded a six-year, $19m deal to supply dry hire equipment to Fortescue's Eliwana iron ore mine, 200km south of Karratha, one of more than $4 billion worth of deals under Fortescue's Billion Opportunities program since 2011.
The PKKP last week entered into agreements with Black Cat Syndicate Limited for the co-management of mining tenements at the Paulsens Gold Operation to help protect and preserve heritage sites on PKKP country, while allowing Black Cat to resume mining operations.
Mr Drage emphasised the significance of these agreements in the wake of the new Act but said that while strong cultural heritage legislation was critical for WA, it could not replace mutual respect and genuine relationships.
"This is a great example of how co-management works on the ground when mining proponents and traditional owners collaborate," he said.
PKKP's agreements with Black Cat and Fortescue respectively are some of the first established since WA's new laws took effect, after eleventh-hour changes from the Cook Government, which gave mining companies and affected landowners a further 12 months to complete heritage surveys.
