WESTERN Australia's Martu people have struck a potentially lucrative deal designed to deliver them major equity in a listed company in return for mining rights to their land — an agreement believed to be the biggest and most significant of its kind in Australia.
Perth-based explorer Reward Minerals, which wants to capitalise on intense global demand for fertilisers, has agreed to grant the Martu substantial options in exchange for development rights for a potash deposit near Lake Disappointment, in WA's Little Sandy Desert.
The Martu will gain 7 million Reward options with a strike price of 50¢, good for four years. Fully exercised, the shareholding would account for 10.31% of Reward's issued capital.
Reward shares jumped 25% to $1.25 on news of the deal, meaning that if the Martu had exercised yesterday, they would be $5.25 million in the black.
The exercise dates for the options are still under negotiation, but BusinessDay believes some will be held in escrow.
Reward would have to undertake a large capital raising to develop the Lake Disappointment project, meaning the Martu's holding would be diluted. Reward managing director Michael Ruane said that while the stake was "generous", it was "a very commercial deal — we are not known for being soft".
"If the development can be accelerated, that's a good commercial outcome for ourselves and our shareholders".
The agreement comes after Northern Territory indigenous leader Galarrwuy Yunupingu last week called for Aboriginal people to be "equal players" with mining companies in controlling the mineral wealth of their lands, and a move by federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson to back the concept of traditional owners having direct stakes in mining developments. Traditional owners have typically been issued royalties, lump-sum payments and employment and education benefits in exchange for access to their land. The equity model, while widely used in Canada, has not been embraced in Australia.
While other companies have issued options to traditional owners, it is believed none have been of the same scale as the Martu deal, which also includes milestone payments and royalties. The Martu and their advisers said their contract would set a precedent for other mining ventures. "We would love to see other indigenous groups ramp up their negotiations and get equity deals, because it's the way of the future," said Joe Procter, principal of the Martu's corporate adviser, Indigenous Energy.
IndiEnergy, founded by Mr Procter, formerly of Woodside and Carnegie Wylie, is believed to be negotiating equity deals with at least two more resource companies.
Reward has been keen to move on the Lake Disappointment potash deposit amid urgent demand and record prices for the fertiliser component.
Australia imports about $300 million worth of potash a year, and there are at present no domestic producers.
Analyst Peter Strachan, who writes the Stock Analysis newsletter, said the deal was "very attractive … It's an offer that aligns the interests of the native title claimants with those of the shareholders of the company," he said.
A joint statement by the chairman of the Western Desert Land Aboriginal Corporation, Teddy Biljabu, its chief executive, Clinton Wolf, and Martu leader Brian Sampson called for an "underlying assumption of equity in any project on our land".
The Martu people are also the traditional owners of Rio Tinto's Kintyre uranium deposit, which the mining giant is in the process of selling.
Last month the Martu withdrew their support for the sale process. They said they would not support any transaction unless a "just level of inclusion, respect and fair value is offered".
Kintyre cannot be developed without the approval of both the Martu and the WA Government, which at present allows uranium exploration but has a ban in place on uranium mining.
A Rio Tinto spokeswoman said the company had a "strong relationship" with the Martu. "We would like to continue working with them to get the best possible sale price for Kintyre," she said. "We want to provide benefits to the local community and Rio Tinto shareholders."
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