The Yindjibarndi people of the Pilbara recently won a “victory” over mining giant Fortescue in the Federal Court, when they were awarded compensation of $150.1 million.
But after almost 20 years of fighting Fortescue and its chairman, Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, it didn’t feel like a win at all.
The Yindjibarndi Ngurra Aboriginal Corporation (YNAC) had sought $1.8 billion due to the scale of the damage caused by Fortescue’s Solomon mine operations.
At least 124 cultural heritage sites were completely destroyed across the mine’s 135-square-kilometre site. All up, more than 240 sites were damaged.
