2013-08-02
A mining company has been convicted of desecrating an Aboriginal site in Australia’s Northern Territory.
Mining firm OM Manganese was found guilty on Friday – the first time a company has been successfully prosecuted in Australia for desecration of a sacred site.
The site is known as Two Women Sitting Down and is at Bootu Creek, north of Tennant Creek.
OM Manganese was fined A$150,000 ($134,000; £88,000).
Peter Toth, CEO of OM Holdings, which owns OM Manganese, said: “The company never intended to harm, damage or disrespect the sacred site.”
“We sincerely regret the damage and the hurt caused and I unreservedly apologise to the site’s custodians and traditional owners,” he said.
Read more on this at www.bbc.co.uk