Vow to fight mine decision in Australia

SYDNEY - Aborigines and environmentalists have vowed to launch a legal challenge to the development of a controversial mine in a remote part of northern Australia.

The Northern Territory Government has granted approval for a Swiss company, Xstrata, to expand its existing underground lead and zinc mine into an open-cut operation.

Xstrata will develop the mine beside the McArthur River, near the town of Borroloola, 900km south-east of Darwin. The lead, zinc and silver reserves lie beneath the river so Xstrata will have to divert it by more than 5km. Local Aborigines fear the mine will be vulnerable to flooding during the annual monsoon season, when torrential rainfall turns much of the region into a vast inland swamp.

The Northern Territory Government gave permission on Friday for the A$110 million project to go ahead.

A group of 45 Aborigines from the Yanyuwa and Gudanji tribes will protest outside Parliament House in Darwin. Felicity Chapman, head of the Mabunji Aboriginal Resource Association in Borroloola, said: "We're investigating legal options and well continue to fight the mine."

Xstrata will have to provide a A$55 million security bond in case of environmental contamination.