The Dreaming story central to a dispute over a $1billion NSW goldmine was not adequately analysed by the federal government, the mining company has claimed during a federal court hearing.

Regis Resources is challenging a government order to protect Indigenous cultural areas impacted by their McPhillamys Gold Project, in the Blayney area about 250km west of Sydney.

The company claims the Section 10 declaration has blocked its access to the mine's planned tailings storage facility and made the project unviable in its current form.

An application to protect the proposed footprint of the mine and its tailings dam was lodged in 2021 under the ATSHIP Act by Wiradjuri Elder, Aunty Nyree Reynolds. The greenfield mine is opposed on cultural grounds by the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation, which stated the land was still used by Wiradyuri people for cultural practices.

The federal government rejected the initial protection request, but reversed that decision in September 2024. It banned Regis Resources from building a tailings dam on the Belubula River, due largely to new information it had received about the site's links to an important Dreaming story of the Blue-Banded Bee. The Wiradyuri Corporation argued that a blue-banded bee public mural in nearby Bathurst was evidence of this Dreaming story's influence.

In November 2024, Regis Resources applied to the federal court seeking judicial review and relief in respect of the decision in August that year by then Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek to declare protection over "the most significant cultural areas" of the Belubula River impacted by the mine, under Section 10 of the Commonwealth's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act.

Weeks earlier the government had provided a statement of reasons for the decision, which was at odds with the position of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council - the recognised Native Title holders of the site.

During a three-day federal court hearing last week, the company argued the government's protection order should be quashed, due to multiple errors in its investigation, including what it claimed was an unreasonable delay in the issue of the Dreaming story being raised.

Regis Resources told the hearing the Dreaming story was only lodged as a problem after a federal government-appointed expert reporter had already assessed the Section 10 application. They argued that this expert should have been recalled to investigate the Dreaming story's connection to the site.

During the hearing, WTOCWAC barrister Tim Goodwin rejected implications the Dreaming story should have been table from the start of the initial investigation. He said Dreaming stories were closely guarded by Indigenous communities, and this story was only disclosed as a last resort to try to protect the site threatened by the mine. The hearing ended on Friday, with Justice James Stellios reserving his judgment.

A spokesperson for current federal Minister for Environment and Water, Murray Watt, said they could not comment on the matter as it was before the court. But during the hearing, the government stated the case should be dismissed, with costs to be borne by Regis Resources.

In September 2024, it was revealed Wiradjuri ­advisor Roy Ah-See had written to Minister Plibersek, telling her claims regarding ancient camp ovens, possible burial sites and an initiation area near the proposed mine were examined and dismissed as having "no authenticity" in a cultural audit overseen by the Elders representing the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Late the following month, the NSW Aboriginal Land Council and representatives from the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council gathered for a truth telling meeting in Orange to discuss the fallout from a stalled gold mine.

In 2023, Regis Resources had received conditional approvals from the New South Wales and federal governments to establish the open cut mine and its associated 90km water supply pipeline. The McPhillamys Gold Project is located in the Blayney-Kings Plains district and is wholly-owned by Regis Resources, which describes it on its website as "one of Australia's largest undeveloped open-pittable gold resources".

The project is designed to extract almost 61 million or ore and produce up to two million ounces of gold, over the course of 11 years of operations, according to Regis Resources' website.

The company bought this project in 2012, and says it has since invested more than $300million in assessing the site.

National Indigenous Times has contacted Regis Resources, Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation, and the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council for comment.