ECNT supporters have helped campaign strongly against the McArthur River Mine for decades. We are calling on you now to assist us as we join forces with Borroloola community in 2023. 

The McArthur River Mine campaign has been developed in direct response to the NT Minister for Mining & Industry’s decision to reduce the mine’s environmental bond from around $520 million to around $400 million was made unlawfully, and the decision is thus invalid.  

The Environment Centre NT, together with Borroloola residents Jack Green and Josie Davey (represented by the Environmental Defenders Office) have gone to court challenging the NT Government’s decision to slash the environmental bond for Glencore’s controversial McArthur River Mine by almost $120 million.  

This is not a decision we’ve made lightly, but we are taking this action in solidarity with Borroloola community, who have been fighting against environmental damage from this mine for many years. 

In October 2021 the Sydney Environment Institute held a forum about the McArthur River Mine, featuring Jack Green, Senior Garrwa Leader, Artist and Cultural Warrior, as well as Kirsty Howey, the Environment Centre NT's co-director, amongst other fascinating panellists. You can watch the forum here:

Mining has formed the basis of ECNT’s work since our formation in 1983 to oppose uranium mining in Kakadu National Park. Fighting for better regulation and management of mining in the Territory is in our DNA.

The Northern Territory is at the forefront of a new wave of resource extraction, being one of the key destinations in the world for a range of minerals including zinc, lead, uranium, gold, manganese, lithium, and ilmenite. Despite the intensity of resource extraction, the NT has woefully inadequate mining laws. Exploitative mining projects are fundamental to the history and politics of the Northern Territory, and special dispensation for mining companies is baked into NT legislation, from environmental regulation to land rights and Native Title.

The NT’s mining laws are not working, but for the first time in 20 years the Northern Territory Government is committed to reforming them. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to fix the system that produced the most toxic mine in Australia, McArthur River Mine, and ECNT is leading the charge in 2022. 

In a world where environmental activists are always looking to the next big project to mobilise around, ECNT has made a commitment to work with Traditional Owners and communities to ensure that governments and mining companies are held to account for the insidious, incremental damage that results from large mining projects, sometimes long after the projects have ended and for many generations into the future.

ECNT has monitored and made submissions on a range of mines in the Territory, including:

If you are from an affected community, have any concerns or information about mining in the Territory, or would like to get involved with the campaign, feel free to contact [email protected] .

More information on particular campaigns below:

McArthur River Mine campaign

Read our full submission regarding regulation of mining activities: environmental regulatory reform here. 

Traditional Owners and the Northern Territory’s peak environment group are taking the NT Government to the Supreme Court over its decision to slash the environmental bond of Glencore’s controversial McArthur River Mine by almost $120 million.

To learn more about the devastating history of McArthur River Mine, and efforts over many decades by Traditional Owners to stop damage caused by it, read our timeline below.