Sheffield cleared for Thunderbird development

Sheffield Resources is set to receive a mining lease for its Thunderbird mineral sands project near Derby, after the Federal Court threw out a native title appeal by a local Aboriginal group.

Sheffield said today that the Federal Court had dismissed an appeal by native title claimants through their representative Arma Legal, which is part of the Wayne Bergman-led KRED Enterprises. The appeal sought to challenge a native title approval for Thunderbird awarded in June.

The dismissal means that the existing native tile approval, awarded by the National Native Title Tribunal, remains valid and a mining lease can be granted for Thunderbird.

“We have received overwhelming support from the local region and we look forward to advancing Thunderbird to unlock benefits and opportunities for all stakeholders,” Sheffield managing director Bruce McFadzean said.

“Sheffield has pledged a commitment to local employment, with a particular emphasis on supporting Aboriginal employment as evidenced through our recently implemented work-ready program.”

There remains a period in which the dismissal can be appealed to the full Federal Court, as the decision handed down today was done so by a single judge of the court.

Sheffield hasn’t amended its development schedule for Thunderbird, with preliminary project works still due to commence by the fourth quarter of the year.

Shares in Sheffield were 6.6 per cent higher to 56.5 cents each at 11:30am.