In the Northern Territory Local Court on Wednesday a person was sentenced, for the first time in NT history, to imprisonment for a conviction under the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989 (Sacred Sites Act).

Mrs Kimberley Smith was convicted and sentenced to four months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, after pleading guilty to working on a sacred site, the Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority (AAPA) said.

Mrs Smith also pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching an exploration licence and was fined a total of $28,000.

In joint proceedings, the AAPA and the Department of Mining and Energy (DME) prosecuted Mr and Mrs Smith for breaches of the Northern Territory Aboriginal Sacred Sites Act 1989, and the Mineral Titles Act 2010.

The court heard that in June and August 2022, Mrs Smith hired a 25-tonne excavator and arranged for a team to enter the historical Tosca mine site on Ammaroo Station and remove significant quantities of turquoise, without appropriate mining permits or an Authority Certificate. Those works resulted in substantial damage to the registered sacred site, Putyenge. Mrs Smith then offered the turquoise for sale in Australia, the United States and China.

Mrs Smith was found guilty of a breach of section 34 of the Sacred Sites Act, and section 147 of the Mineral Titles Act. The case against Mr Smith was withdrawn due to serious health issues.

Aboriginal Areas Protection Authority chairperson, Mr Bobby Nunggumajbarr, said he welcomed the conviction.

"The stolen turquoise was part of the story of that place. They knew they were on a sacred site and brought in excavators and dug it up," he said.

"This is the first joint proceedings between the Authority and the Department of Mining and Energy, and I am very happy that today justice has been done."