NEWCREST has downplayed the decision by the Land and Environment Court to quash an exploration licence in the Cadia Valley near Orange and said the decision would have no impact on the mine’s operations.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Justice Nicola Pain found in favour of Lucknow-based Gold and Copper Resources, an exploration company run by Brian Locke, that brought five legal challenges against Newcrest.
The latest one to go before the court was over the renewal in 2011 of an exploration licence application made in 2008 during the stewardship of disgraced former mining minister Ian Macdonald.
Newcrest spokeswoman Kerrina Watson said the decision by Justice Pain involved an exploration licence and not the current mining operations in the valley.
“This does not mean we have to relinquish any ground,” she said.
“All it means is that the minister’s delegate must show properly documented reasons why they gave the 100 per cent renewal of the exploration licence.”
In a worst case scenario, the company would have to surrender ground if the minister's delegatecould not provide sufficient evidence to justify why Newcrest was given the renewal in full.
The exploration licence covers 100 square kilometres and encompasses 70 per cent of Newcrest’s wholly-owned exploration area in NSW.
“We are confident it will be renewed in total,” Ms Watson said.
In the first of the legal actions against Newcrest brought upon by Gold and Copper Resources, that was heard earlier in the year, the judge found that Newcrest had breached a confidentiality agreement they had with the small exploration company but Gold and Copper Resources suffered no financial loss.
The next three legal actions concern the permitting of activities beyond the current mining lease borders at Cadia and the awarding of another exploration licence by the NSW government.
Ms Watson said Newcrest would vigorously defend the claims in court.
