Australian firm fined $108M for illegal mining on Indigenous group's land

An Australian mining company will pay 150 million Australian dollars ($108 million) to the Indigenous Yindjibarndi people over unauthorized iron ore mining on their land, a court ruled Tuesday.

The settlement marks the largest native title payout in Australian history and ends an almost two-decade legal dispute between the Yindjibarndi people and Fortescue Metals Group, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

However, community elders criticized the compensation, with one describing the payout as “peanuts” compared with the billions generated by the company.

The Yindjibarndi people had sought 1.8 billion Australian dollars in compensation for cultural and economic losses, as well as damage to sacred sites.

The mines were developed without consent from traditional owners and have generated tens of billions of dollars in revenue since production began in 2013, with operations expected to continue into the mid-2040s.

The Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation was recognized in 2017 as the exclusive native title holder over a 2,700-square-kilometre area in Western Australia.