Regis Resources has won its Federal Court challenge over the McPhillamys gold project in New South Wales. The court declared invalid the Commonwealth heritage protection declaration made in August 2024 under the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, which covered 400 hectares including the proposed tailings dam site and had stalled the project since. The matter returns to Environment Minister Murray Watt for redetermination.
The judgment turned on process, not on the merits of the heritage claims. Justice James Stellios found that information concerning the Blue Banded Bee Dreaming story amounted to a new application that required referral to a government reporter and public consultation. McPhillamys, near Blayney, holds an ore reserve of 56 million tonnes at 1.1 grams per tonne for 1.89 million ounces and had received its project approvals in 2023 before the declaration was made. Industry groups put the investment value at $1.3 billion.
Regis managing director Jim Beyer said the company will take part in the redetermination and wants a timely resolution after more than two years of delay. In parallel, Regis is progressing the alternative design from its June pre feasibility study, which combines filtered process residue and waste rock in a single landform that avoids the declared area entirely, insurance against a second adverse decision.
Industry bodies including AMEC, AREEA and the NSW Minerals Council welcomed the ruling and framed it as an approvals confidence issue for the wider sector. The redetermination timetable is now the catalyst: a fast, favourable decision restarts a permitted project, while a long process leaves the alternative design as the practical path.